THE 



SCHOOLS OF CINCINNATI, 



a 



^ 



A.ND ITS VICINITY. 



BY JOHN P. FOOTE. 




iV. ^ 



What Constitutes a State." 

Sir Wm Jones. 



O I N C IN NATI: 

C. F. BRADLEY & CO. 's POWER PRESS. 

1855. 



# 



Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1855, by 

JOHN P. FOOTE, 
In the Clerk's Office of the Southern District Court of Ohio. 



PEEFACE. 



The following advertisement appeared in the "Kentucky Gazette," 
published at Lexington, by J. Bradford, at the period of its date : 

" Saturday, September 6, 1788. 
"The subscribers, being proprietors of a tract of land opposite the mouth of 
Licking Kiver, on the north-west side of the Ohio, have determined to lay off a town 
upon that excellent situation. The local and natural advantages speak its future 
prosperity ; being equal, if not superior, to any on the bank of the Ohio between the 
Miamis. The in-lots to be each half an acre, the out-lots four acres. Thirty of each 
to be given to settlers, upon paying one dollar and a half for the survey and deed of 
each lot. 

" The fifteenth of September is appointed for a large company to meet in Lexing.. 
ton, and mark a road from thence to the mouth of Licking, provided Judge Symmea 
arrives, being daily expected. 

" When the town is laid oft', lots will be given to such as may become residents 
before the first of April next. 

" MATTHIAS DENMAN, 
" ROBERT PATTERSON, 
" JOHN FILSON." 

In pursuance of this notice, the party arrived at the point designated, on 
or about the time appointed; and, after the necessary explorations, proceeded 
to lay out a town, which was first named Losantiville, and afterwards Cin- 
cinnati. It was bounded on the East by Eastern-Row, (now Broadway,) 
West by Western-Row, North by Norlhern-Row, (now Seventh street,) and 
South by the Ohio. The courses of the streets were marked on the trees, 
and a new town in the wilderness was considered as established, by surveys 
and divisions into lots, and making maps, preparing records, and taking such 
other steps as were deemed necessary at that period. 

The rapid growth of this city, which, says Mr. Mansfield, may be con- 
sidered as having begun in 1800, containing, at this time, a population of 
200,000 ; with institutions, public and private, which will compare favorably 
with those of any other city of equal population, is a phenomenon in civic 
history, which, under the circumstances connected with it, has no parallel. 

At the first above date, the whole population of the United States, was 
estimated at about three millions. The country was so exhausted by the 
war of independence, that it possessed little or no wealth, except the stout 



IV PREFACE. 



hands and resolute hearts of its people ; with wild lands on one side, and 
the ocean on the other, from one or the other of which, the means of life 
must be obtained, and each equally demanding diligent labor, with severe 
privations ; and of these it would require the exercise for years to pay the 
debts which the struggle for independence had entailed upon the country, 
and to provide, at the same time, the necessaries of life for families — present 
and prospective. 

The first settlers of this region, in addition to the cares, labors, and du- 
ties common to all the inhabitants of the United States, were required to 
protect themselves against frequent incursions of savage enemies, and were 
often destined to see the fruits of their labors destroyed, and their wives and 
children murdered, or carried away captive. 

The astonishing progress of Cincinnati, in population, and in wealth, un- 
der such circumstances, excites the surprise, and awakens the attention, of 
every intelligent visitor who contemplates it, and few can do so, without be- 
ing led to make inquiries respecting the causes of this wonderful progress ; 
for, it is generally remarked, "there appear to be various places on the Ohio 
" with as many, and some — Louisville, for instance — with more natural ad- 
" vantages." In the answers to such inquiries, various causes are generally 
assigned, and they are such as are perceived to be influential. They are 
such as constitute a part, but not the whole of the reasons of the superiority 
of Cincinnati to the other cities and towns of the West. A very important 
and efficient one has seldom, if ever, been taken into account, or referred to 
in any manner. This is, the early attention that was given to the education 
of youth, and the continued and repeated efforts for the establishment of in- 
stitutions for the dissemination of useful knowledge, which has character- 
ized the most influential inhabitants of this city, from the period of its 
foundation. 

The rr^oral importance of the proper education of youth, and the diffusion of 
knowledge generally, is well understood ; but their commercial, economical 
value, has seldom been commended to the attention of parents or children. 
On the contrary, it was formerly a common opinion — and this opinion is not 
yet entirely exploded — that all the time devoted to the acquisition of any 
kind of knowledge, except such as might have an immediate bearing upon 
the vocation selected for any young man, was, at best, but an extravagant 
waste of time, or a dangerous exposure to influences that might divert him 
from the path that leads to fortune ; instead of being. — as in most cases it 
might be — a stimulus to success, in either commercial, agricultural, or me- 
chanical pursuits. 

Cincinnati has been more extensively, and more favorably, known, in Eu^- 
rope, as the site of an important Astronomical Observatory, than from her 
extensive commerce, and numerous manufactures ; and her flourishing 
^chpols, have given her, in our country, and especially the West, a reputar 



PREFACE 



tion more valuable than she could have derived from any other attribute. 
Entitled, as she is, to a Jiigh and honorable place among the cities of our 
country, the eiforts of her early settlers and pioneers, to give her the means 
of obtaining the eminence she has acquired, should be remembered, not only 
as an act of justice to their memories, but as a useful example to others and 
to posterity. 

An account of the literary and scientific institutions, established in the 
early settlement, and during the progress of our city, is one of those contri- 
butions to history which may be made far more useful than details of the 
wars, conquests, State intrigues, and the various crimes which have made 
history a "Newgate Calendar of Nations." It may give us useful lessons, 
such as history ought to record, for the benefit, not only of philanthropists 
and philosophers, but for those whose views and objects are of a lower order, 
and who think the chief end of man is to acquire wealth. 

Cincinnati has become so distinguished as a commercial and manufactui*- 
ing city, that her inhabitants are in danger of forgetting that there are other 
elements of civic prosperity, besides manufactures and commerce, which must 
be cherished if we would have our prosperity continued. Literature and 
science make no display on our streets and landings : they have no puffing 
steam engines, or noisy vehicles of transportation, to keep public attention to 
them constantly alive, and, in consequence, very few think of the nourish- 
ment they ailord to all the arts of life, and all the operations by which our 
comforts and the general prosperity are promoted. Our fields, when covered 
with a luxuriant growth of grass, and grain, do not exhibit the manure 
which stimulates that luxuriance, and if the farmers forget its influence, and 
neglect to keep it renewed as often as necessary, fertility will soon be changed 
to barrenness. 

Our educational, literary, and scientific institntions not only require to 
be preserved, but to be extended — they ought to grow with the growth of 
the other constituents of our city — and the memories of their founders should 
be kept " green in our souls," not only as a principle of gratitude, but as an 
acknowledgement of an important element of our prosperity. 

Ignorance is the offspring and the parent of idleness. The idle and 
dissipated are not attracted to places where schools are the most prominent 
institutions : the industrious — the prudent — the vigilant, who carefullynote 
the indications of future prosperity — are the men whom institutions of 
learning attract, when selecting homes for their families : these build up 
cities on permanent foundations. These constitute a State. 

Although the age of the writer is greater than that of the city of which 
he writes, his personal recollections of it do not extend as far back as those 
of many of his fellow citizens,, but he has had the benefit of their reminis- 
cences, as well as the records of early times, by Dr. Drake, Mr. Mansfield, 



VI PREFACE. 



Mr. Cist, and others, and if any errors should be discovered in his state- 
ments, he trusts they will not be found in matters of importance. 

It is not considered necessary to mention, in this work, the private 
schools for very young children, of which there are always a number, in dif- 
ferent parts of the city. They are generally established for the convenience 
of a small number of families, and are not considered permanent institutions ; 
being removed or discontinued at the pleasure of the teachers. 



CONTENTS. 



Chapter. Page. 

1. Cincinnati College, ............ 1 

2. High Schools, '....... 11 

3. Law School, 20 

4. Common Schools, » . . 33 

5. College of Teachers, . 44 

6. Academy of Natural Sciences, 52 

7. Wesley an Female College, 64 

8. Farmers' College, 69 

9. Ohio Female College, . . • 78 

10. Ohio Mechanics' Institute, 81 

11. Schools for Colored Pupils, 92 

12. Sunday Schools, 103 

13. Young Men's Mercantile Library Association, . . 109 

14. House of Refuge, 115 

15. College of St. Xavier, 122 



CONTENTS. 



16. American Female College, 126 

17. Medical College of Ohio, 137 

18. Miami Medical College, and other Schools of Medicine, 145 

19. Historical Societies, 148 

20. Baptist Theological Institution, 163 

21. The Cincinnati Astronomical Society, 172 

22. The Society for the Promotion of Useful Knowledge, 190 

23. Academy of Fine Arts; 198 

24. The Lane Seminary, .......*... 213 

25. Private Female Schools, » . . . 220 

26. Private Academies for Boys, ....•*.. 223 
Conclusion, » ; . . 227 



ILLUSTRATIONS. 



Hughes High School, on Fifth, facing Mound 

Street, Frontispiece. 

Woodward High School, North front, Page 11 

Portrait of N. Guilford, " 33 

Medical College of Ohio, " 137 

Lnteriur of the Cincinnati Observatory, .... " 172 



CHAPTER I 



CINCINNATI COLLEGE. 

The entire period of the history of Cincinnati is within the 
memory of persons now living ; and it therefore possesses the 
peculiar advantage, — if we would draw useful lessons from itis 
progress, — of being susceptible of such proofs of the accuracy of 
our foundations for such lessons as cannot be questioned. 

" The early histories of most nations are so involved in obscu- 
rity and fable," that we cannot trace them to their source, for the 
purpose of obtaining the light necessary to aid our enquiries, 
concerning National Character, but in those instances where we 
have the means of knowledge, we find that those leaders, chiefs, 
and lawgivers who lay the foundations of society for any people, 
impress upon that society the leading traits of their own charac- 
ters so deeply and permanently, that nothing but conquest and 
entire extinction as a nation can eradicate them : and those heroes 
and sages who lived before Agamemnon, although their memo- 
ries soon perished for want of the sacred bard, left the impress 
of their characters on the people they governed, during the period 
of their national existence. 

If the superiority of the founders of any nation be derived 
from mere bodily strength, the character of that nation will be 
found to be warlike, savage and ferocious, or if by conquest they 
acquire wealth, they become indolent and sensual. But if a love 
of literature, of poetry, of rhetoric, or of any of the arts, form a 
part of their character, the nation is always found to advance in 
1 



SCHOOLS OF CINCINNATI. 



civilization and refinement in proportion as the superiority of its 
leaders consisted in mental, rather than bodily accomplishments.* 
The first proprietor of the site of Cincinnati was John Cleves 
Symmes, — at the time when he made the pm"chase of a million 
of acres between the Miamies, a member of Congress. At an 
earlier period of his life he had been a teacher, and was not only 
conversant with the learning of the schools, of the higher class, 
of that day, but was a cultivator of general literature — of belles 
lettres and poetry ; and although his poetical talents — judging 
from the few specimens that have been preserved — would not give 
him a high rank among the early poets of our country, yet his 
letters and prose articles evince a sound mind, well cultivated, 
with talents as a statesman which, at a period during which a 
large portion of our best statesmen imparted character and 
strength to our nation, gave him rank among them. 

Judge Symmes sold the site of Cincinnati to Matthias Denman, 
of New Jersey, who associated with him John Filson and Colonel 
Robert Patterson, of Lexington, Kentucky. Filson was a teacher, 
and if we may judge from the name propossd by him for the city 
opposite the mouth of Licking, may have been something of a 
pedant, and fond of displaying his knowledge of languages. Pe- 
dantic, however, as the name LosantivilJe may appear when its 
formation is explained,! it is more euphonious than Cincinnati, 
and would have been equally free from the embarrassment caused 
by the use, so common, in this country, of second-hand names sO 
dilapidated by frequent use as to require to be supported by the 
names of Counties and States in order to give any idea of their 
geographical position. Such names, for instance, as Washing- 
ton, Jefferson, Adams, Franklin, &c. — so common that they give 
no more identity to a town than that of John Smith to an indi- 
vidual. Their frequent use, however, might give us reason to 
imagine that their God-fathers thought there was some magic 
virtue in a name that might be used to conjure with, — that it 



* Essay on National Character. Cin. Literary Gazette, March 6, 1824. 
t Its formation is said to be as follows : L. the initial of Licking, os (Latin) mouth ; 
anti, (Greek) opposite ; ville, (French) city. 



CINCINNATI COLLEGE. 3 

possessed some recondite, magical power of raising up spirits from 
the vasty deep ; not, however, like those names used by the ancient 
magicians and conjurers for calling " airy sprites that syllable 
men's names," but such as would call up bold, determined, and 
patriotic spirits, clothed with flesh, and strong in might to make 
towns grow up rapidly. 

Filson was killed by the Indians during the progress of the 
survey of the town, and before the change of the name he had 
bestowed upon it. He was succeeded in his proprietorship bj' 
Israel Ludlow, a well educated, intelligent gentleman, blessed 
with a wife not only so amiable and pious that the Indians gave 
her the name of Athapusca, signifying in their language, the good 
white woman, but also highly educated, intelligent and qualified 
to shine in the most refined and intellectual society. She posses- 
sed taste and talent for the fine arts, which, in a more advanced 
state of society, would have given her reputation as an artist. 

This couple lived in Cincinnati and its vicinity for a considerable 
period from the commencement, and during the early progress, of 
its society, while the character of its population was in process of 
formation ; and must have had much influence in giving a direc- 
tion and tone to the tastes, manners, and habits of the early set- 
tlers. Denman returned to New Jersey, where he resided until a 
few years since, when he returned merely to witness the fulfillment 
of his early prophecy concerning the prosperity of the town he 
had founded.* 

In 1789 Fort Washington was founded near the junction of 
Third Street and Broadway, and the security it afforded from In- 
dian depredations gave an impulse to the settlement of the town, 
the growth of which, however, was very slow for the next twenty 
years. General Harmar was the first commanding officer of 
Fort Washington. He and his successors, with their subordinate 
officers, were generally intelligent, well educated men, superior 
in these respects to most of the pioneers of the West : although 



* On this visit he pointed out to a friend of the writer a piece of property which he had 
sold for a trifle, and for which he nerer received the pay, that was then covered with brick 
houses and stores of immense value. 



SCHOOLS OF CINCINNATI. 



unfortunately for them, the theories of temperance which then 
prevailed did not, as at present, include abstinence from whiskey, 
which was considered a prophylactic — a special preventive of the 
intermittent fevers, which were among the common evils our 
early settlers had to encounter — and which at that period were as 
much dreaded as the Indians. 

In consequence of this false doctrine, many valuable lives 
were destroj'^ed by the use of this quack medicine ; just as they 
are now and have been ever since, by the use of the same, and 
other quack medicines, some of them used as prophylactics and 
others as curative agents, but as surely destructive to health as 
whiskey and its alcoholic congeners. Some exceptions, however, 
were found, among the officers, to the believers in the false doc- 
trine respecting the medicinal properties of whiskey, which they 
considered the true aqua vitcB instead of what it is, the aqua mortis. 
Among them was Captain — afterwards General — Harrison, the 
tenth President of the United States. He was distinguished for 
his knowledge and love of classical literature, which in those 
days was the department of learning highest in esteem at the 
College of William and Mary, where he was educated : and the 
cultivation of his mind, especially in all matters connected with 
improvement in his profession, occupied that portion of his time 
which by too many of his associates was wasted in idleness and 
dissipation.* 

Other gentlemen among the early settlers of Cincinnati, were 
not only well educated, but entertained correct ideas respecting 
the importance of an early attention to the education of youth, 
as among the duties of the founders of towns and cities. Among 
them were Arthur St. Clair, Jr., John S. Gano, Judge Turner, 
William McMillan, Judge Goforth, Judge Daniel Symmes, D. 
Wallace, David E. Wade, and others. 



* Our excellent and venerable fellow citizen, Colonel John Johnson, informed us, that 
General Cass was distinguished among the officers of the period, as one obedient to the 
instructions of his catechism, "to keep his body in temperance, soberness and chastity ;" 
and this it is probable, has enabled him to withstand the wear and tear of political life, 
and be fit for President of the United States at an advanced age. 



CINCINNATI COLLEGE 



Judge Burnet, with his brother, G. W. Burnet, arrived here in 
1796, and during more than half a century, was prominent among 
the liberal contributors to the establishment of literary and scien- 
tific institutions. His brother, Isaac G. Burnet, who was for 
many years editor of the " Liberty Hall," and Mayor of the City, 
arrived, as did also his brother, David G. Burnet, at a later period. 
All these gentlemen were fine belle-lettres scholars, liberally 
educated. George died a few years after his arrival here. 
David emigrated to Texas, of which Republic he was the first 
President. 

A perfect conviction of the importance of making early provi- 
sion for the education of youth, flowed as naturally from the 
influence of such men as laid the foundation of society in Cincin- 
nati, as the love of freedom and independence from that of their 
ancestors. Primary schools for the rudiments of learning were 
established as soon as there were children that needed them, and 
when the improved systems of popular education, invented by 
Lancaster and Bell, were introduced into our country, this city 
was among the first to adopt them, on the most liberal scale. 
The old College building — at the time of its erection the finest 
public building west of the mountains — was the " Lancastrian 
Seminary." It was erected in 1814, and went immediately into 
operation. la 1815 it was chartered by the Legislature as a col- 
lege, with university privileges, and by the donations of a few 
citizens, obtained an endowment which, if it could have been pre- 
served from sacrifice during the disastrous period in the history 
of Cincinnati when the financial troubles of the city caused the sac- 
rifice of nearly all the private property it contained, would before 
the present time have given it an income equal to the revenues 
of most of our old and well established colleges. Its founders 
and benefactors were General Lytle, who gave land valued at ten 
thousand dollars, and a considerable sum in cash, Judge Burnet 
who gave five thousand dollars in cash, and other property to a 
large amount, Ethan Stone, William Corry, Oliver M. Spencer, 
General James Findley, David E. Wade, John H. Piatt, Andrew 
Mack, and upwards of forty others. 

The contributions for the erection of a building, and for its 



6 SCHOOLS OF CINCINNATI. 

permanent endowment, were estimated, at that period, at fifty 
thousand dollars ; an immense sum to be contributed by a few 
men who had immigrated to the West a very few years previous 
without capital, (or with very little,) to undergo the toils and 
hardships of a life in the wilderness, for the hope of being able 
to provide thereby more favorable destinies for their children, 
than they themselves had enjoyed, or were enabled to look 
forward to for them in the land of their birth. For this object 
they were willing to encounter perils fearful enough to discourage 
any but men of undaunted courage and fixed, steady, resolution, 
who intended to accomplish the objects of their enterprises by 
severe, honest, industry: with no visions of gold mines, or sudden 
riches in their excited imaginations ; but, on the contrary, a 
certainty of hardships and privations to be endured for an 
indefinite period, while living in a continual scene of danger from 
savage enemies, whose deeds of cruelty were, as j'et, the only 
characteristics they had displayed ; and a career of life so fearful 
in contemplation was to be commenced by a distressing separation 
from the scenes and the friends of early life: — a separation 
which, under the circumstances of that day, in relation to the 
facilities of travel, was wider than at this time would be, in 
comparison, the most distant portions of Oregon, or even the 
Sandwich Islands or Australia. Circumstances, only a portion 
of which in our days are considered almost too intolerable to be 
offered to negro slaves in exchange for freedom. With the 
means of intercourse which existed in those days, the separation 
of the immigrants to this region from their early homes and 
friends, was far greater than the colonists of Liberia are asked to 
encounter, and the danger from climate probably greater. 

An organization of a Faculty of arts for the Cincinnati College, 
consisting of a President, Vice-President, Professors of Languages 
and Natural Philosophy, and Tutors, was effected, and a course 
of instruction similar to that of other Colleges in our country, 
adopted. It was continued in operation a few years, during 
which period several young Ladies were included in the gradu- 
ating classes, together with a number of young men, who have 
since obtained distinguished reputations. 



CINCINNATI C OLLEG E 



The dark period, however, in the History of Cincinnati, was 
beginning to overshadow the City soon after the opening of the 
College, and notwithstanding every effort to sustain it, by the 
Trustees, until the advent of " the good time coming," and the 
most vigorous struggles to keep it alive until that time should 
come, it was obliged to share, with the citizens, the fate of a 
sacrifice of all its property, except the building, which was 
destroyed by fire a few years after, leaving to the institution only 
the ground on which it stood as a remnant of an endowment 
which would, at this time, if it could have been preserved, been 
sufficiently liberal for such an institution. 

Previous, however, to the destruction of the building, and after 
it had been occupied for various purposes, (among others that of 
a Cholera Hospital,) the institutiou was again revived; chiefly 
through the influence of Dr. Drake, whose first object was the 
establishment of a Medical Department. The Law School was 
also organized at this time as a Department of the College. 

To the Literary Department, so strong a faculty was now 
appointed, that if its success had depended upon the talents of 
its Professsors alone, it could not have fallen again. The faculty 
consisted of W. H. M'Guffy, President and Professor of Moral 
and Intellectual Philosophy; O. M. Mitchell, Professor of Math- 
ematics and Astronomy ; Asa Drury, Professor of Ancient Lan- 
guages ; E. D. Mansfield, Professor of Constitutional Law and 
History ; Lyman Harding, Principal of the Preparatory Depart- 
ment; and Joseph Herron, Principal of the Primary Department. 

President M'Guffy remained in office about three years, when 
he received the appointment of a Professorship in the University 
of Virginia, which he accepted, and was succeeded in the 
Presidency by the Rev. T. J. Biggs. 

The building being destroyed by fire in 1845, there was no 
attempt made to continue the operations, or the organization, of 
the Institution; but the Trustees made powerful, and finally 
successful, efforts to erect a larger and better building on its site, 
which had become central to the business portion of the city and 
consequently very valuable. Of the funds necessary to this 
object, ten thousand dollars were advanced by the Young Mens' 
Mercantile Library Association, and the remainder borrowed on 



SCHOOLS OF CINCINNATI 



bonds, for which the building was mortgaged. By these means 
the spacious and beautiful building was erected which now 
contains the library and reading-room of the above mentioned 
Association, the Merchants' Exchange, the Law School, the rooms 
of the Historical and Philosophical Society, of the Academy of 
Natural Sciences, and some other institutions ; the lower story 
being divided into convenient sized rooms, and rented as ^stores 
for the purpose of paying the interest and gradually reducing the 
principal of the debt. This, it is supposed, will be effected in a 
few years, when the Institution is intended to be revived, with a 
new organization of a Faculty of Arts ; and when the College 
will be again devoted to the purpose of its original foundation, 
or the building be made to furnish a revenue for the support of 
the Faculty in a different edifice, more favorably situated for 
educational purposes. 

The present building has a front of one hundred and forty feet 
on Walnut street, and is^one hundred feet deep, built of the white 
Dayton lime stone, a very beautiful and durable material ; it is 
four stories in height, and is in the Doric style, with pilasters and 
wreaths of the order, but without other ornament. 

Although the original Cincinnati College is no longer in 
existence, yet it is hoped that the name may be continued to the 
building that has been erected on its site, even if the faculties, 
and the pupils with their college exercises, should be removed to 
another building in a different location. It deserves to be 
regarded as a monument of the good sense, philanthropy, and a 
correct appreciation of the earliest of their duties, by the earliest 
settlers of Cincinnati. A permanent inscription to this effect, on 
some conspicuous place within its walls, would do honor alike to 
the founders of our Literary Institutions, and to the good taste 
and grateful remembrance of their descendants and successors, 
who are enjoying the benefits of their labors ; — the fruits of- the 
trees and vines which they planted. 

The memories of warlike achievements, whether good or evil in 
their motives or results, are sure to be preserved in historic 
records, and in every other mode which human ingenuity can 
devise for their preservation. Mankind have taxed their pow- 
ers of invention, and called forth those of poetry and eloquence, 



CINCINNATI COLLEGE 



as well as the arts of the painters and the sculptors, to give 
eclat to deeds of death and destruction, and to excite emulation 
in works that ought to excite dread and horror, — deeds that 
instead of justifying such rejoicings as tax the human intellect 
to make dazzling, ought to bow us down with shame, and 
" make us hang our heads and blush to think ourselves men" 
of the same species with those who think that glory, honor, and 
immortality are to be gained by destroying the lives of their 
fellow men, and driving over their works of art, and fields of 
fertility, the car of desolation. And it is not of such conquer- 
ors as Tamerlane, Aurengzebe, Nadir Shah, and Alexander, 
of Mahomet and his successors, nor of Alaric and Attila, alone 
that we now speak, but of Napoleon, of Nelson, of Wellington, 
who have been deified in modern times, and whose worshippers 
are witnessing and suflering the fruits of their idolatry in the 
Crimea, where the human sacrifices to Moloch, show the ten- 
dencies of idolatrous belief, and hero-worship. The distinction 
between the defenders of their country in war and its ravagers, 
is forgotten in history and song, which give their meed of glory 
to success rather than to patriotism and self-sacrifice. 

The memories of men who have made large endowments to 
literary and scientific institutions, can be preserved and hon- 
ored by bestowing their names on structures and professorships, 
and the Woodward and Hughes' High Schools in our city, 
the Astor Library, the Van Rensellear Institute, the Girard 
College, the Lawrence Professorships, the Appleton, and nu- 
merous other endowments in other cities, confer immortality on 
the names they bear,, which were those of their benefactors. 
But in a case like that of the founders of the Cincinnati Col- 
lege, consisting of forty individuals, of whom, perhaps, (like 
the widow in the Gospel,) those whose donations were the 
smallest, were the most liberal, and imposed the greatest degree 
of self-denial on the donors, the names cannot be preserved in 
that of a building, or an endowment, like those above men- 
tioned, but they may be inscribed on the permanent structures 
raised by their efforts, and thus receive some portion of the 
honor they deserve. 
2 



10 SCHOOLS OF CINCiNNAi^I. 

During the period of the depressed condition of the College^ 
several plans were proposed for uniting it with other semina- 
ries, and by their combined means and influences, building up 
a University, differing in some respects from any of those now 
in existence. But, although many reasons were adduced by 
the proposers of the different plans, in their favor, yet they 
did not harmonize so fully as to cause any one of them to be 
carried into effect. Most of the institutions, however, which it 
was proposed to unite, have flourished independently : as, for 
instance, the Medical College, the Observatory, and the two 
High Schools. 

The College has been instructed to wait until its debts are 
paid, and until the revenue which is now devoted to their pay- 
ment can be appropriated to its proper and legitimate object, 
when it also may be expected to flourish, either independently-, 
or in connection with some other institution. 

The inconveniencies arising from the want of a regular 
income sufiicient for its purposes, which embarrassed and an- 
noyed the Trustees and Faculty so frequently during the period 
of its operations, formerly, have determined them to regulate 
the future course of the institution so as to avoid this class of 
evils, — though they may perhaps discover others requiring 
equal vigilance to guard against or remedy. 

Whatever may be the future course of the College, it is a 
matter of congratulation that we have such a building, 
situated where it is, in the heart of the City, to retain its name 
and keep alive the remembrance of the praiseworthy efforts of 
the pioneers and early fathers of our City. A building which 
will be a durable monument of their efforts for the welfare of 
their posterity and successors, in the form and manner most 
effective for that end. 

One of the original founders of the Coflege, Ethan Stone, at 
his death, a few years since, bequeathed to the College a rever- 
sionary legacy, but of what amount is not known. It is not 
expected to be large, but it was a mark of an early attachment 
to a worthy object, continued through a long life, and not forfeit*- 
ed by its misfortunes and poverty, and it is an example recom- 
mended for limitation. 



CHAPTER II, 



HIGH SCHOOLS. 

Foreigners, in giving the characteristics of our countrymenj 
have generally given prominence to their idolatry of the " Al- 
mighty dollar," and this has so often been repeated that we) 
ourselves, have adopted the opinion, and are frequently found 
lamenting the stain which such a stigma has made on our Na- 
tional character. 

This form of idolatry is common in all civilized, or partly 
civilized, countries ; but it is less so in the United States than 
any other. 

We have, indeed, more need, and need of more, money than 
any other people, because we want all those improvements of 
the most advanced state of civilization, of which older countries 
exhibit specimens — and we have always been determined to 
have them — and to have them without waiting the slow pro- 
gress by which they have been obtained in the old world — and 
we have exhibited an eagerness to obtain the necessary means 
for our projected and ever progressing improvements, that seems 
to arise from an inordinate love of money. But if a compar- 
ison could be made of the liberal donations — not post obits — 
for the establishment and support of schools, and of every other 
valuable public institution, by our people, with those of any 
other country, and include their relative wealth in the compar- 
ison, it would be found that no people on earth are less disposed 
to love money for it own sake, than the Americans. 

We indeed display a degree of daring enterprise, as well as 
laborious dilligence in our efTortf to obtain the sinews, — r\n\ 



12 SCHOOLS OF CINCINNATI. 

with US of war, but of great undertakings and magnificent 
projects ; but we part with it more readily than any of those 
who have reproached us for our avarice. We are indebted, 
moreover, to foreigners, not only for the reputation in question, 
but also to them for an over proportion of the individuals on 
whose characters it is founded ; and if statistics on the subject 
could be given, as great a proportion of the idolaters of money 
among us, would be found to consist of foreigners, as is their 
proportion in the statistics of pauperism and crime. 

Among the riumerous examples of contrast between foreign- 
ers and natives of our country, which the history of our educa- 
tional and other institutions, would furnish, two are suggested 
by the subject of the present chapter. They are, Stephen Gi- 
rard and William Woodward. 

The former, a foreigner, came to this country in early man- 
hood, and devoted a long life to the zealous, eager pursuit of 
wealth, characterised by nothing except such traits as are usu- 
ally connected with that pursuit, and distinguished by uniform 
success in all his undertakings. But even when his acquisitions 
had become so great that they must have been burdensome ; 
and when a childless old age had deprived him of all ca- 
pacity for the ordinary enjoyments for which the pursuit of 
wealth is adopted, by men who are not philanthropists nor es- 
pecially patriotic, his efforts for its increase did not cease, 
and he evinced no willingness to part with any portion of it, 
for any purpose, good or evil : on the contrary, his love, 
" strong as death," impelled him to endeavor to retain the con- 
trol of it after death had exerted its control over him. The 
manner in which he attempted to do this, by testamentary pro- 
visions, is well known, and equally well known are the circum- 
stances of disregard to his wishes, which bear testimony of the 
small amount of respect that survives to the memory of the rich 
man whose only trust is in his riches, and whose only distinc- 
tion arises from their amount. 

William Woodward came in early life, from Connecticut, to 
establish for himself a new home in the fertile regions of the 
Wpf't, where an exuberant soil and benignant climate offered at- 



HIGH SCHOOLS. 13 



tractions, which to most men, were overbalanced by the dangers 
that attended the early settlers, and the privations, (of which 
we at this day have little idea,) to which they were obliged to 
submit. 

The value of land at that time was very small, and his very 
small means enabled him to purchase a farm large enough for 
his wants, at the foot of one of those beautiful hills, by which 
Cincinnati is surrounded.* He brought with him the frugal, 
laborious, temperate and prudent habits of a ISiew England 
farmer, and he brought little else. During a long life, he culti- 
vated his farm dilligently, discharged faithfully the duties of a 
good citizen, a friendly neighbor, and a consistent Christian; 
and was contented and happy in that state of life unto which 
it had pleased God to call him. 

In the decline of life, without ever having sought for riches 
beyond the supply of his moderate wants, he found himself a 
rich man by the growth of the city ; and its approach towards 
his farm. He had no tastes that could be gratified by this ac- 
cession of wealth, but he had duties to his neighbor (as well as 
to God) which he was ever read}^ to acknowledge, and solici- 
tous to discharge. And in thinking how, for this purpose, he 
could most advantageously appropriate the wealth bestowed 
upon him, and consulting his friend and neighbor, Samuel 
Lewis, on the subject, they very judiciously decided that in view 
of the state of society, and of our educational institutions at 
that time, he could do nothing so well calculated to benefit his 
neighbor — his country — and his kind, as to provide means for 
the education of children, and especially of the poor. 

For this purpose, he transferred that portion of his farm near- 
est the city to trustees, to form an endowment for the establish- 
ing and maintaining free schools ; providing that, if more 
applications were made for places in them than could be 



♦ At that period, these hills formed a border of such surpassing beauty, around the 
plain on which Cincinnati stood, as to cause us, who remember them in their beauty, 
almost to regret the progress of improvement which has taken from us what it can 
never restore. 



14 SCHOOLS OF CINCINNATI. 

granted, that orphans, and the children of widows, should have 
the preference ; and in the early period of the history of the 
Woodward School, this provision was required to be enforced.* 

His friend, Samuel Lewis, and his nephew, Ormond Cogswell, 
he constituted trustees for life, of his donation, with power to 
appoint their successors, and he gave the City Council power to 
appoint three others. Mr. Lewis was the chief manager of this 
trust, and it soon became the principal business of his life. He 
managed it so judiciously that the revenues immediately be- 
came considerable, and will eventually be very large. A school 
was soon established, and was for some time in successful ope- 
ration. But after the adoption of the common school system, 
by the State, the Woodward School became superfluous, and it 
was thereby rendered desirable that the conditions on which 
the donation was founded, should be changed. 

This case then furnished an exemplification of the superior 
value of donations made during the life-time of the donor, to 
the post obits, which men seem generally to prefer. For Wood-, 
ward, being alive, was able to alter the terms of his donation 
and adapt it to the altered state of the communit}^, in respect 
to educational establishments. The Cincinnati College had 
been suspended — the free schools had been established, and it 
was then desirable that a High School or College should be 
founded, instead of one of a lower grade, as first proposed by 
Woodward. He had divested himself of all control of the re- 
venues of the property he had assigned, but he could and did, 
modify the terms on which that assignment was made, so as 
to allow the Trustees to establish the Woodward College and 
High School. 



♦ It was edifying and amusing, to see Mr. Woodward, during many years after this 
donation, and when it was yielding several thousand dollars per annum, and while ho 
was making new additions, frequently, to his donation; in the tow linen frock and trou- 
sers, such as had been the common costume of farmers, in New England, in his youth, 
driving his ox-cart about the streets of Cincinnati, and laboring with all the energy of 
youth in the ordinary avocations of farmers ; and the writer has known him to stop his 
cart at the door of an old neighbor, and after a chat with him, and hearing his com- 
plaints of want of money, to make some improvements of his property, to otfer to aid 
him with his credit, for that purpose. 



HIGH SCHOOLS. 15 



In all the changes made or proposed, he was able to give the 
sanction of his approbation, and thus enjoy the happiness of 
which those who wait till death deprives them of the power of 
seeing whether their intentions are faithfully carried into effect, 
voluntarily deprive themselves, — of seeing the benefits he in- 
tended to confer, enjoyed by those for whom it was designed. 

He was induced, also, to make additional donations for spe- 
cific objects, which were considered important, such as a library, 
philosophical apparatus, &c. 

He lived long enough to see that the institution he had 
founded, was established in accordance with his wishes, and 
was dispensing the blessing-s of education as extensively as he 
could have hoped, and he died in a good old age, leaving in 
the brief history of his obscure and uneventful life, a lesson 
more valuable to his fellow citizens, if duly appreciated and 
remembered, than even the noble endowment of the Wood- 
ward High School. A lesson which, even in his life time, began, 
as we shall presently see, to exhibit its favorable influence. 

He left no legacy of law-suits, like Girard and M'Donald, 
but he left an example more worthy of imitation than that of 
a victorious general, an adroit statesman, or a successful votary 
of wealth. His biography, in comparison with those of the 
few who are deservedly eminent, is like a proverb compared 
with an ethical treatise ; its lesson easily understood and re- 
membered, and its practical value generally felt. It cannot 
call forth volumes of eulogistic twaddle enough to fill a library 
like Napoleon's, — of which it is to be hoped the silliest and 
most delusive, by Abbott, will be the last, — but it can and will 
call forth blessings on his memory, from thousands of freemen, 
who by his bounty will be enabled duly to appreciate the value 
of their country's freedom — a freedom secured — and which 
only can be secured — by a system of education free for all 
classes of society alike, and fettered by no sectarian restraints. 

The beautiful building erected by the Union School Board, 
to take the place of the original High School building, (which 
is to be taken down,) is a monument to the memory of Wood- 
ward, as creditable to the taste and judgment of the Board and 



16 SCHOOLS OF CINCINNATI. 

their architect, as the clumsy and unmeaning monument to 
Washington, at onr National Capital, is disgraceful to the taste 
of a nation of freemen. For, if it indicates anything, it is 
that education has been so much neglected among us, or so 
misdirected, that the ancient Egyptians and Greeks are called 
upon to furnish symbols to commemorate the Father of his 
country — the world wide acknowledged model of a true, dis- 
interested patriot, a successful general, and a sagacious states- 
man. Even the Scott monument, at Edinburgh, unrivalled as it 
is in beauty, is not so appropriate as a memorial, nor will it 
awaken so many of those feelings which monuments to the 
great and good ought to excite, as will this school building, 
with its appropriate inscription, in its interior, to the memory 
of Woodward . 

The Washington Monument — a useless pile of stones — 
indicates a retrograde movement towards the periods when 
learning was unknown, and piles of stone and mounds of 
earth were the only inventions that had been made for pre- 
serving the memory of heroes and sages. The Woodward 
monument is illustrative of progress in civilization and in civil 
liberty, being a beautiful specimen of one of the parents and 
guardians — namely, Seminaries of education — of national 
freedom and human rights. 

The Bunker Hill Monument, (like the Washington,) is a pile 
of stones, useless and unmeaning ; or — if some meaning may 
be supposed to be attached to it — it may symbolize hardihood 
and endurance ; but these qualities, although possessed in an 
eminent degree, by the heroes of our revolution, are not the 
qualities for which we desire to preserve their memories — the 
soldiers of Nicholas are as capable of such traits of character, 
as were our forefathers. The memory of the qualities of those 
men who achieved our independence, should be that of their 
pure, devoted patriotism, which shrunk from no sacrifice of ease 
or comfort, of property, or of life itself, for the establishment of 
our country's independence, with free institutions, guarded by 
enlightened, educated patriots, who will never submit to slavery 



HIGH SCHOOLS. 17 



themselves, or impose it on others. If we raise monuments to 
them, they should in some way symbolize such characterstics. 

John Hughes was a neighbor and friend of William Wood- 
ward, and, like him, desirous not to live entirely in vain, but to 
do something for the benefit of those who should, after his 
death, be required to uphold and strengthen the free institutions 
of our country. His frequent conferences with Woodward, in- 
duced him to adopt similar opinions in regard to youthful 
education ; and, like him — as he had no children of his own, 
■ — to adopt the children of the poor as his heirs. 

His farm adjoined that of his friend on the north, but being 
further from the city, was not as valuable, and could not be ex- 
pected to be convertible into town lots within any reasonable 
period. He bequeathed it to William Woodward, William 
Greene, Nathan Guilford, Elisha Hotchkiss, and Jacob Williams, 
Trustees, to be appropriated at their discretion, to the educa- 
tion of youth in Cincinnati ; and these gentlemen considered it 
most expedient to lease the land on perpetual ground-rent for 
an annual revenue of upward of two thousand dollars, which 
should be left to accumulate, until it amounted to a sum suffi- 
cient for the erection of a building, suitable for such an insti- 
tution as could be supported by such a revenue. 

Both the Woodward and the Hughes funds have lately been 
placed in charge of the City Council, and a board has been or- 
ganized for their management, styled the Union Board, consist- 
ing of Trustees of the Hughes fund, of the Woodward fund, 
and members of the City Council, under whose direction the 
two beautiful school-buildings, bearing the names of their foun- 
ders, have been erected — one in the eastern, the other in the 
western part of our city, which will always constitute two of the 
proudest monuments of Cincinnati. 

But these donations, together with those bestowed on the 
Cincinnati College, are not the only testimonials given by the 
early pioneers of our city, of their just appreciation of the im- 
portance of general and early education. Another of these 
testimonials was given by John Kidd, who in 1818, left a leg- 
acy of one thousand dollars per annum, forever, " for the edu- 
3 



18 SCHOOLS OF CINCINNATI. 

cation of poor children and youth of Cincinnati," without de- 
signating the manner in which it was to be appUed. 

This, at that period, was a large sum, and would have formed 
a very important item among the appropriations for the educa- 
tion in primary schools, of all that class of children, (at that 
time not large,) named in the will. But its loss furnishes another 
instance of the uncertainty of post obits. It was derivable from 
ground-rents of property, situated on the corner of Main and 
Front Streets, but it was lost after a few years, through the 
operations of those technical requirements of our laws, which 
sanction present, positive, injustice, robbery and wrong, by 
way of guarding against supposable cases of injustice and 
fraud, at distant periods, and under supposable circumstances. 

In the case in question, a sale had been made of some prop- 
erty, belonging to orphan children, for their benefit — the sale 
being necessary, and having been made for the full value of 
the property, at the time — the proceeds faithfully applied, and 
the transaction being supposed to have been legally conducted 
throughout, as it was intended to be, in good faith. Yet, when, 
after the lapse of many years, and the value of the property had 
immensely increased, some merely technical flaw in the pro- 
ceedings of the executors, when they made sale of the prop- 
erty, was discovered, and by the operations of rules of law, 
made in and for a barbarous age, innocent purchasers were 
despoiled of their property, to an immense amount. Among 
them were the heirs of John Kidd, namely, " the poor children 
and youth of Cincinnati," who were not able to provide for 
themselves the means of education. 

This case, although it shocks us by its injustice, and morti- 
fies us by the contrast of the narrowness of our laws, with the 
liberality of some of our early citizens, may be made useful, as 
exhibiting the need of general education among the people ; 
since the rules of law on which this injustice was founded, were 
established for the (supposed) benefit of a population in which 
reading and writing were the privileges of a very small num- 
ber, and the great body of the people were to be guarded in 
their rights by laws framed for that purpose, by the wisest men 



HIGH SCHOOLS. 19 



of their time. No men, however, have ever been wise enough 
to be able to establish efficient guards for the rights of an igno- 
rant people. 

Public evils are more easily fixed upon communities, than 
removed when experience has tested them ; and our reverence 
for law, which is one of the most conservative instincts of our 
people, induces us to bear legal evils and oppressions longer 
and more patiently than any others. The feeling that we cfl?i 
remedy abuses, if, and when, we please, makes us frequently 
bear them longer and more patiently, than if great efforts and 
great hazards were to be made, and suffered, to shake them off"; 
and we can only account for our patient endurance of the fre- 
quent exhibitions of legal injustice upon this supposition. 



CHAPTER III, 



THE LAW SCHOOL, 
A DEPARTMENT OF THE CINCINNATI COLLEGE. 

It has been said of our New England ancestors, that, on 
tlieir arrival in America, finding themselves out of the jurisdic- 
tion of the civil laws to which they had been accustomed, and 
desirous to be supplied as early as possible with a brief code, 
they resolved to be governed by the laws of God until they could 
get time to make better. This is a pleasant piece of scandal, 
and, being half true, (the first half,) it has a better foundation 
than most pieces of scandal. 

The people who first came to the West did not resolve to be 
governed by the laws of God, and it has been considered ne- 
cessary for them to have three other kinds of law for their 
government, viz : common law, statute law, and Lynch law. 
The first was the necessity of a barbarous age, when the com- 
mon school had not been invented, and reading and writing 
came onl}^ by nature. The second was a necessity of civiliza- 
tion, keeping at a respectful distance behind it, but still 
advancing with it. The third was the necessity arising from a 
transition state of society, in which the law of God was 
ignored and the laws of the land unknown, though supposed to 
be founded on the rules of justice, — which they are sometimes. 
The administration of law under the Lynch code, was generally 
in a very rough informal manner, but oftener in conformity 
with the rule of right than the common law. Injustice was 
sometimes perpetrated under its sanctions, but not as often as 
under the other systems. Its great fault was, that it was too 
apt to reverse the principle, that it is better that the guilty should 



LAW SCHOOL. 21 



escape than the innocent suffer. A principle which has, in 
many cases, been carried to such absurd lengths, as almost to 
justify its disregard. 

In many respects, the Lynch law code is what the other sys- 
tems ought to be — a guardian of the lives and property of 
society, under the circumstances existing at the time of its 
administration. Atrocious and horrible as it seems, to most 
people, it very seldom does more than what the other systems 
ought to perform, and quite as seldom outrages justice. 

Under the common law, robbery is often sanctioned, (as has 
been shown in the second chapter,) and many murders com-= 
mitted with impunity — murders in open daylight, with evident 
malice prepense, and in the presence of numerous witnesses, 
and yet they have gone unpunished. Two eminent examples 
in point, will occur to most minds : one, which occurred some 
years ago, in New York, and the other, recently, in Kentucky ; 
and they may serve to humble the pride, with which we com- 
pare our safety from tyranical oppression and arbitrary rule 
with that of the subjects of Royal and Imperial governments. 
Nobody supposes that either of the murderers, above referred 
to, would have escaped punishment if he had been poor and 
friendless ; and nobody justifies such an administration of law 
in such cases. * 

In Austria, or Russia, such criminals might be suffered to es- 
cape due retribution ; bat it would not be under the forms of 
law ; and there certainly must be need of some correctives 
when such abominations can exist, and be consonant with na- 
tional institutions. 

If we could have law schools, to teach us how to make, and 
how to administer laws, so that justice should be duly meas 
ured out by their administration, it would be a point gained in 
the progress of society of the utmost importance. 



* In the biographies of many of our eminent men, who were lawyers, instances are 
given of their procuring, by their eloquence, the release from punishment, of crimi- 
nals, whose guilt was undoubted : in Prentice's life of Clay, for instance. 



22 SCHOOLS OF CINCINNATI. 

We are aware that human infirmity, the imperfections of 
language, the obscurity of testimony, the doubts that may 
be raised by various circumstances, and many other excuses or 
palliations, are given for the flagrant outrages of justice by the 
administration of our laws. But the necessity of such excuses 
ought to have taught men the propriety of new inventions, or 
repairs in our legal systems. If our agriculturists had excused 
their old fashioned plows, or the public our old fashioned roads, 
in this way, and continued to use them, instead of inventing 
the turnpike and railroad, and improving the plow, they would 
have done just what our jurists are constantly doing. 

Why should not a College of Jurists be organized, as well as 
a College of Teachers, and for a similar purpose ? The pur- 
pose, namely : of making all the improvements that may be 
found necessary in that department, which is under their par- 
ticular supervision. There can be no doubt that a body of 
such men, as would be requisite for such a purpose, could be 
assembled, and if it could not accomplish everything that 
might be desired, at once, it might make progress — a progress 
conformable to that going on in other departments of useful 
knowledge. Such a body of men, of extensive experience, 
sound judgment, and knowledge of the various influences that 
operate on individuals, might do — or, at least, might begin — 
the work that is necessary to give that progress to our laws, 
that has been felt in almost everything else. 

We have hitherto depended, and must hereafter depend, on 
our legislators to make laws ; but we elect them with very little 
thought of their capacity to understand the bearing and influ- 
ences of the laws they may enact. They are elected because 
they can cajole the ignorant, the unprincipled, and the careless, 
and because they can further party views, of temporary inter- 
est. When legislators are elected with such objects, can it be 
surprising, that such laws should be enacted, as those of which 
there is now such universal complaints ? Laws, so unintelligi- 
ble to the judges who expound them, that it is a common case 
for one court to reverse the decisions of another ? Laws, some- 
times unconstitutional, and sometimes unintelligible ! 



LAW SCHOOL. 23 



We ought to have law schools for our legislators, as well 
as for pupils of the profession, and the}- ought to give such 
instructions as will enable men of ordinary common sense, 
to comprehend the meaning and tendency of such laws as 
may be enacted. 

The Law School of the Cincinnati College, was founded, 
says Cist, in 1833, by John C. Wright, Edward King, and Tim- 
othy Walker. In 1835 it was made a department of the College. 
The number of students have ranged, each year, from 17 to 34; 
the present Faculty consists of Charles P. James, late Judge of 
the Superior Court of Cincinnati ; M. H. Tilden, late President 
Judge of 13th Judicial Circuit of Ohio, and M. E. Curvven, of 
the Cincinnati Bar. The course embraces a period of eight 
months : from the 23d of September to the 1st of June. A 
certificate from the institution, entitles the holder to admission 
to the Cincinnati Bar, without further examination. 

The text-books used are similar to those of other law schools, 
and the pupils are required to sustain a rigid examination, and 
are not entitled to a diploma, merely because they may have 
attended a regular course of lectures. A diploma, therefore, 
from this source, gives a man a standing in the profession, which 
would generally require more time and labor than would be given 
by a mere term of pupilage in a lawyer's office, with the abil- 
ity to answer certain questions propounded by his examiners. 

This, and all other law schools, take Blackstone as a founda- 
tion to build upon, and agree in his doctrine, that the common 
law of England is the perfection of human reason ; but it is 
very strange that in this county, where there is so little reverence 
for established doctrines of any kind, and especially, for those 
which have only the sanction of time to recommend them, — - 
where there is so little toleration of old things merely because 
they are old — that those of common law should continue to 
be the only ones which must not be questioned or improved. 

The slow progress of our Universities and Colleges, has been 
adverted to, but the perfection^ — not of human reason, but of 
the power to stand still in this go-ahead age, is to be found in 
our adherance to the common law. This is undoubtedly better 



24 SCHOOLS OF CINCINNATI. 

than the old Danish or Saxon Jurisprudence, and so was the 
old fashioned plow, with colter and share, better than the pointed 
stick, which is still used as a plow in Asia and Africa, and in 
some parts of Europe; but if our agriculturists and mechanics 
had thought it unnecessar}^ to improve plows and other tools, 
our progress would have been very different from that which 
we have achieved. There is one, and we know of but one, 
benefit arising from this adherence to systems of law so inde- 
pendent of justice as ours. It is that their glorious uncertainty 
deters many persons from engaging in law suits, which would 
be sure to require a great sacrifice of time, of patience, and of 
money, and would give assurance of nothing else. If laws 
could be so reformed that we could be sure of justice through 
their operation, however, there would, perhaps, be as many 
deterred from suits, as in the other case, but they would be such 
as fear, rather than love justice. 

The codification of laws has always been spoken of as a 
desideratum, but no steps have ever been taken by those who 
have adopted the English common law system, to accomplish 
this object, notwithstanding the universal acknowledgement of 
its expediency. Louisiana, indeed, has taken steps in this 
matter, but that State was not, originally, under any common 
law system : her original legal institutions, and practices, were 
under the French code. 

The only really praiseworthy portion of Bonaparte's career, 
as a ruler, was his effort to give France a code adapted to the 
state of civilization in Europe ; and had he, at the time he pro- 
jected it, repented of his wars of sacrifices of human life, and 
devoted his cares and labors to defining and establishing such 
guards of human rights, as laws ought to be, he might have 
acquired a fame as honest as that to which he is entitled is 
the reverse. 

Canon law is not much known or reverenced in the West ; 
but we have approved of the substitution of ca?mo;i law, for the 
laws of nations, when we wanted a wider territory on the Pa- 
cific, and we have an immense body of men among us, who 
are anxious to institute suits under it, to recover Cuba. We 



LAW SCHOOL. 



25 



re-annexed Texas upon the plea, not that it had ever belonged 
to us, but that we might have had it by negotiation, if Spain 
vv^ould have consented. We want to recover Cuba on a 
similar plan. 

Our law schools ought to have a professorship of the Law of 
Nations, to teach it, either as we understand it, or according to 
"the rules of justice, and the laws of God. If, on the former 
principle, we ought to have a Normal school, to teach our law 
expounders different doctrines from those of Vattel, Grotius, 
Wheaton, and other old fogies, who continue to be received as 
teachers, because we have not yet thought it necessary to make 
our precepts correspond with our practice. 

We have invented one kind of law, which is peculiar to our 
nation, but it has not yet received a name. It is neither 
based on the law of nations, the law of God, or the laws of 
humanity. This is the law we administer to the Indian na- 
tives of our country, \^'e make treaties with them, to which 
they must agree, or be exterminated — and when we think they 
have lasted long enough, we break them and make new ones, 
and break them, too, whenever we please. We take away 
their lands whenever we want them, and send them out of our 
way, to territories, of which we guarantee them peaceable pos- 
session forever, and again disposses them, with as little cere- 
mony as we would drain a marsh, or cut down a forest. We 
excuse our treatment of them, on the plea that they refuse to 
to be civilized, which we constitute a crime, and yet, when we 
find any of them in good progress of civilization, like the 
Creeks and Cherokees, we punish them still more heavily than 
those who abhor civilization. All this is done under some law, 
which is neither common, civil, or canon law — neither code, 
digest, or pandect. It is not even Lynch law — and, to dis- 
cover its principle, would be a discovery worthy of this en- 
lightened, progressive age. 

If we assume the sic volo sic jubeo, as our only principle of 
law, our inconsistency will be rather too manifest, since we 
proclaim it to be our duty, and our manifest destiny, to oppose 
despotism, and especially this, its most offensive principle ; and 
2 



26 SCHOOLS OF CINCINNATI. 

we proclaim it to be our manifest destiny, to extend the area 
of freedom indefinitely — and to keep adding new slave States 
to our union for this purpose. 

The Indians have made slaves of the negroes — have adopted 
whisky drinking as the chief good — have always made fight- 
ing the most honorable of all vocations — have always enter- 
tained that contempt for useful labor, that characterises the 
the highest class of society, in the most highly civilized nations ; 
thus imitating what, to them, must appear the most distinguish- 
ing characteristics of civilization, and would probably follow 
most of the other examples we set them, if in their power; and 
yet, we complain and punish them, for refusing to be civilized. 
They are going on the path of civilization, as they understand 
it, and what more could be expected from them ? They cannot 
be governed by our understanding of right and wrong which 
it would puzzle m.ore intelligent people than the Indians to 
comprehend; for it is right with us, and highly praiseworthy, to 
deliver a man from the grasp of a European tyrant, at the risk 
of sacrificing many lives, and involving the country in war ; 
and it is an intolerable wrong, threatening the dissolution of 
the union, to aid another man to escape from a tyranny far 
more oppressive than that of Austria. It is right for us to 
exercise any act of oppression upon one class of men, and 
wrong for others to say it is wrong. And if, in requiring the 
Indians to become civilized, we require them to be governed by 
the rule of right, we ought to allow them to discover what that 
rule is, by our conduct. They ought to see, in us, examples 
which are consistent one with another, instead of such as are 
totally inconsistent with our precepts. 

That law schools should be so rare, and so limited in their 
teachings, as they are in our country, is a circumstance not 
easily accounted for, under a government where every individ- 
ual may be required, or permitted, to assist in making laws, 
and where every one, at some time or other, complains of such 
as are made, and thinks he could mend them. 

The desideratum in this, as in all countries, is to have laws 
modeled as nearly after the moral laws as possible — short 



LAWSCHOOL. 27 



and comprehensive, perfectly intelligible, and so plainly just, 
and proper, as not to be questioned. The most important, and 
those most frequently referred to, might be published in a con- 
densed code, and used in our common schools. Mansfield's 
political grammar is a work that was a long time wanted for a 
school book, and, if our State laws can ever be made intelligi- 
ble, they ought to be condensed into another. A professorship 
of the principles of our laws — if they can be so improved as 
to be founded on principles — ought to be established in our 
high schools and colleges. 

At present, when we have a law to authorize burglary, by 
officials, and another to punish it, if by others, together with 
several other similar anomalies, it would be useless to attempt 
to bring them into such a form, that they could be introduced 
into our schools, since that could not be done, without exciting 
contempt for them, on the part of our youth — a sentiment that 
ought never to be allowed to exist, in respect to the laws of 
our country. 

The plan of Napoleon, of ordering certain distinguished ju- 
rists to assemble for the purpose of framing a code of laws for 
France, was, perhaps, the best for that country. But, for ours, 
a plan similar to that on which our College of Teachers was 
formed would be better ; a plan, namely, by which any one who 
felt competent to give instruction, or make an appropriate sug- 
gestion, or point out an example for use, or who could further 
the object in any way, might aid in forming the mass of thought 
on the subject, and in chrystalizing it into its proper shape. 
Perhaps one very important reason why our common law system 
has not been reformed, and our statute laws have not been 
more consistent, is the very reason for their necessity. It is 
that our law-makers have not been sufficiently sensible of their 
their own ignorance and need of improvement. 

It may, perhaps, be said that our schools teach the use and 
meaning of language ; and if a legislator understands it, and 
possesses good common sense, he has the necessary qualifications 
for framing our laws ; and there are some who seem to know 
by intuition what others require hard study and much teaching 



28 SCHOOLS OF CINCINNATI. 

to comprehend, but these are few in number, and less likely to 
be selected for legislators than others less qualified. We are 
as likely to select such as will not undergo the labor of thought 
nececssary, or possess the talents that qualify them for leg- 
islators, as many others. 

In many of our universities, we have law professorships, and 
we have some independent law schools — of which one founded 
by Judge Reeves, at Litchfield, Conn., was once very celebrated, 
but is now defunct — but they all merely teach the stereotyped 
doctrines and modes of practice. 

If the lights of knowledge, of progress, of civilization, of 
Christianity, and of common sense should, in our age of discov- 
ery, enable our jurists to make the discoveries in our legal sys- 
tems that are necessary for the due administration of justice, 
then the law may be styled the perfection of human reason 
with propriety, and the millenial period be considered as be- 
ginning. But our laws have occupied a stand point — a stand 
still point so long — with even more obstinacy than our colleges 
and universities ; that there must be something in that power 
they possess of resisting the progress of improvement of a very 
recondite nature. 

" The science of jurisprudence," says Mr. Greene,* "is as 
applicable to nations as to individuals — to whole communities 
as to single members of them. Whether the one or the other 
be its object, its essential constitution is the philosophy of hu- 
man rights and obligations, ascertained by the experience of 
ages, and put into form by the wisdom of the learned." 

This is undoubtedly what the science of jurisprudence ow^Ai 
to be, and if the experience of ages in relation to it should but 
be put into form by the wisdom of the learned, it would be a 
manifestation of progress in that science equal to any that has 
been made in mechanical science during the present century. 
Hitherto, all the efforts of the learned in jurisprudence seems to 
have been directed merely to putting patches upon some gaping 
evil, and by constantly putting new cloth into old garments, mak- 

*Eulogy on John Q. Adams. 



LA W SCH OOL. 29 



ing new rents ; thus exciting, continually, contempt for what 
ought, of all temporal things, to be highest in our veneration. 
This patching, instead of renewing, if continued, will bring us 
eventually to the belief that Lynch law is founded more on the 
philosophy of human rights and obligations, than either common 
or statute law. 

If the talents that have been, and are constantly required to 
be, devoted to deciphering the meaning of abstruse points of 
law, should be directed to the framing of an intelligible code, 
although, from the influences of human infirmity, it might not 
be perfect, yet it could undoubtedly be made to be more con- 
sonant with justice, than our present system ; and the respect 
and veneration for law, which has become a mere matter of 
policy, which it is exceedingly difficult to keep alive with all the 
maxims and the eloquence that are used for that purpose, may 
be what it ought to be, a matter of real veneration for a true 
and efficient guardian of our rights. As now administered, it 
fails to protect our lives, or our property, (as is seen in the ex- 
amples we have quoted,) and the consequences are fearful to 
contemplate ; for, if our reverence for law is lost, our liberties 
are lost — and in such a government as ours, anarchy first, and 
despotism next, must follow. 

It is a cirumstance illustrative of popular errors and popular 
ignorance, that the code of 1650, commonly known by the ap- 
pellation of the Blue Laws, so far from receiving the attention 
and homage paid to the absurdities of the common law, we 
believe is never cited even as authority in our courts, and 
the study of it is so little attended to in the course of legal 
education, that a most lamentable ignorance of its wise and 
benign provisions exist even among our most enlightened 
jurists. 

In every country which has risen to eminence, its early law- 
givers have been considered public benefactors, and their mem- 
ories cherished by a grateful posterity as long as their nation 
continued independent. 

It was reserved for our country to exhibit an example of in- 
gratitude towards its earliest instructors in the science of juriS'!- 



30 SCHOOLS OF CINCINNATI. 

prudence ; to suffer their labors to sink into oblivion, instead of 
having them embalmed in commentaries, and their absurdities 
religiously explained and defended with such legal precision 
and clearness, as to give additional obscurity to the glorious 
uncertainty of the law. 

The mention of the blue laws is seldom for any purpose but 
that of ridicule of the follies of our ancestors, yet the closing 
provision of the Constitution, on which this code was founded, 
is as follows : 

" Forasmuch as the free fruition of such liberties, immuni- 
ties, privileges as humanity, civilty and Christianity call for as 
due to every man, in his place and proportion, without impeach- 
ment or infringement, hath ever been and ever will be the tran- 
quility and stabillity of churches and commonwealths; and the 
denial or deprival thereof the disturbance, if not the ruin of 
both : // is therefore ordered by this Court, and the authority thereof^ 
That no man's life shall be taken away ; no man's honor or 
good name shall be stained ; no man's person shall be arrested, 
restrained, banished, dismembered, nor any way punished ; no 
man shall be deprived of his wife and children; no man's goods 
or estate shall be taken away from him, or in any way indam- 
aged, under colour of law or countenance of authority, unless it 
be by the virtue or equity of some express law of the country 
warranting the same, established by a General Court, and suf- 
ficiently published ; or, in defect of law in any particular case, 
by the Word of God." 

This, if found among the black letter volumes of old English 
legal authorities, would be quoted as a specimen of the wisdom 
of our ancestors. The provision in the last sentence, if en- 
forced, would save us from such legal robberies as those of 
which we have spoken in our second chapter. 

The following, from the code itself, is, perhaps, considered 
ridiculous, from its constituting that a crime which is only con- 
sidered a sin, and as taking away a valuable portion of the lib- 
erty of speech. 



LAWSCHOOL. SI 



" For lying is, we know and teach 
The highest privilege of speech." 



'' LY IN G E ." 

"Whereas truth in words, as in actions, is required of all meu, especially, if 
Christians who are the professed servants of the Lord of truth ; and 
whereas all lyinge is contrary to truth, and some sortes of lyes are not 
only sinfull, as all lyes are, but allso, pernicious to the publique weal, and 
injurious to perticular persons ; " 

" It is therefore ordered hy this courte, and authority thereof, That every 
person of the age of discretion, which is accounted fourteene yeares, who 
shall wittingly and willingly, make or publish any lye, which may bee perni- 
cious to the publique weal, or tending to the dammage or injury of any 
perticular person, to deceive and abuse the people with false news or reportes, 
and the same duly prooved in any courte, or before any one magistrate, who 
hath hereby power graunted, to hearc and determine all offences against this 
lawe, such persons shall be fyned for the first offence, ten shillings, or if the 
party bee unable to pay the same, then to bee sett in the stocks so long as the 
said courte or magistrate shall appointe, in some open place, not exceeding 
three houres." 

We have not mentioned, among our laws, those of honor, of 
which we are reminded by the above quotation. These laws 
do not constitute lying an offense, but they make it a mortal 
offense to inform a man that he has told a lie — an offense that 
can only be atoned for by blood-shedding; and whether it is 
the blood of the accuser, or the accused, that is shed, makes no 
difference. The reparation of the injury is as effective, 
and satisfactory, by killing the injured person, as by being 
killed by him. 

The system of laws, however, which is administered in this 
form, is becoming obsolete, here. Indeed, it never was fairly 
established among us, because it cannot take root and flourish, 
where education is valued. It still prevails at the South, where 
chivalry, yellow fever, and other deadly evils prevail, and are 
destined probably to continue, until a better and more general 
system of education shall eradicate them. 

The code of honor was formerly an established system of 
jurisprudence in the State of New York, and we recollect a 
conversation on the subject, in the early part of the present 
century, in which it was maintained and proved, that every im- 
portant office in the State was held by a duelist. 



32 SCHOOLS OF CINCINNATI. 

At that time, however, popular ignorance was as extensive 
in that, as in the slave States ; but since the common school 
system has been adopted, with other institutions of education, 
and for the diffusion of knowledge, this relic of the ages of ig- 
norance and barbarism has disappeared — at least, from all 
that portion of society possessing any pretensions to intelli- 
gence and cultivation. 

This is one of the circumstances which show that the posses- 
sion of knowledge and refinement, by a select few, in any 
community, has but little influence in reforming the mannerSj 
even of that class ; popular education and the diffusion of 
knowledge among all classes, is alone to be relied on for re- 
forming the manners and morals of any class. Such men as 
Alexander Hamilton, Brockholst Livingston, De Witt Clinton, 
and the other eminent and enlightened men of that period, 
could not fail to perceive the ineffable folly of giving to the 
laws of honor, supremacy over the laws of God, and of their 
country, and yet, they could not muster up courage enough to 
despise that folly. It was not to conciliate the good opinion of 
the wise, and virtuous of the community, that they were guilty 
of the sin of duelling, but fear of the loss of reputation among 
that great mass of the community, who, as long as ignorance 
is their prevailing characteristic, are led and governed by cant 
phrases, and the barbarous maxims of barbarous ages. Popu- 
lar ignorance is the great evil of communities — not only of the 
ignorant, themselves, but, still more, of the intelligent and cul- 
tivated portion of the community. 




i-^ A ir M i\ Rj © ;l 



2-<:g;^>^ y/yy^^-c-^ 



r^ 




MWdletoix. Priurer 



CHAPTER, IV. 



COMMON SCHOOLS. 

The Common School sj^stem originated in New England, and 
was the first of those Yankee inventions, an aptitude for which 
forms a distinctive trait in the national character of the uni- 
versal Yankee nation. The first immigrants to New England 
made the discovery that the most effective device, "and one of the 
chiefe projects of the old deluder, Sathan," against the souls of 
men, was to keep them in a state of ignorance, and the proper 
weapons to be used against him were, therefore, to be furnished 
by schools and churches. The foundation of these armories 
was, consequently, the first of the duties that ought to claim the 
attention of the founders of a new nation. These were ac- 
cordingly the first public establishments made by the pilgrims ; 
and attention to the instructions of the schools was required of 
all the youth, and to those of the churches, of all their parents, 
under such penalties as made this requisition effective. 

A long experience has confirmed the patriotic, the philanthro- 
pic, and the sagacious — who have anxiously and carefully ob- 
served the influences of the Common Schools — in the belief 
that they are the most efficient safeguard of civil liberty, and 
the most effective elements of general prosperity. Their influ- 
ence in making that State, which, according to the report of 
one of our most eminent statesmen, provided nothing for com- 
merce but "rocks and ice," the most populous in proportion to 
its extent, and the most wealthy in proportion to its population 
of any of the states of our Union, has been observed and veri- 
fied by continued experience. The uninterrupted prosperity of 
5 



36 SCHOOLS OF CINCINNATI. 

any doctrine of political economy which appeared to interfere 
with it made no converts. The establishment of Common 
Schools by the State, with a system of taxation for their sup- 
port, however accordant with the truths of the last named 
science, did not seem to be so with the former, by men who look 
only at the surface of things ; and to oppose Satan by the dif- 
fusion of knowledge did not seem to them, by any means, so 
important as to oppose the Indians, who were considered his 
representatives, by the rifle ; and until great progress had been 
made in the settlement of the Reserve, it was considered hope- 
less to attempt to induce the people of Ohio to consent to 
be taxed for the support of schools. The absolute necessity 
of universal education under a government of universal suf- 
frage, was not so generally understood as it has become since 
we have had more extensive information on the subject, not 
only by repeated didactic instruction, but by sad experience 
of the increase of crime, proportionate to the increase of ignor- 
ance, transmitted to us from Europe, and the robbery thereby 
of the majority, or those who ought to constitute the majority, 
of our citizens, of their rights, by giving to the ignorant and 
vicious, who can be bought or cajoled by unprincipled dema- 
gogues, the power to neutralize the votes of the wise and pat- 
riotic, and thus overturn the foundation of the principles on 
which rest our free institutions. For those who vote ignorantly 
ought not, in reason and justice, to have any better right to 
vote than idiots or children ; and when such votes are given 
under the influence of party leaders, those leaders swindle the 
true voters out of their rights, as certainly as individuals are 
swindled out of their property by the knaves whom we punish 
for obtaining goods under false pretences. 

The time for making a great effort for the establishment of 
a State Common School law was at last supposed to have ar- 
rived, and, in our city, Nathan Guilford, who is generally con- 
sidered the author of that law, was elected a Senator for the 
express purpose of bringing forward a bill in the Legislature 
for that object, a duty to which he faithfully attended. At this 
period of our history, our representatives were elected for their 



COMMON SCHOOLS. 37 

qualifications to perform the services and duties required of 
them. Guilford's coadjutor in the Senate was Micajah T. Wil- 
liams, a man best known as the champion of internal improve- 
ments, of which he may be considered the father, and of which 
he managed the pecuniary affairs during many years, v^ith an 
honesty and purity which ou^lit to have been considered a proper 
example to be followed by other dlsbursers of the public funds. 
Williams was a man of energy, as well as of many other good 
qualities, and on the school question he displayed that charac- 
teristic, in favoring its progress, as decidedly as he did in all 
his other public duties. William Carey, one of the early pio- 
neers of our city, and one of the steady promoters of the cause 
of education to this day, and our two other representatives in 
the lower House, Hayward and Mack, were, as well as Guil- 
ford, immigrants from New England. There were also, for- 
tunately, at that time, from the Western Reserve, and other 
parts of the State, men of intelligence, zeal, and industry, who 
knew the value of Common Schools, and their special necessity 
in a State with such an ultra democratic constitution as was the 
first constitution of Ohio, and who were fixed in their deter- 
mination never to cease their efforts to obtain for the State a 
sytem of Free Common Schools until it should be successful, 
and Free Schools be among the established institutions of the 
State. The}' succeeded in spite of much opposition, and more 
lukewarmness, and now, after an experience of many years, 
this system is firmly fixed in the afl^ections of the people of 
Ohio, and is considered by them as indispensible an element of 
their liberties, and guardian of our free institutions, as thetiial 
by jury, the freedom of the press, or the elective franchise. 

It may now seem incredible, but it is a fact, that some of the 
most wealthy and influential of the citizens of Cincinnati, op- 
posed the establishment of free schools, by the State, from an 
unwillingness to be taxed for their support. An anecdote of 
one of them is worthy of preservation. Soon after the close of 
the session in which the school law was passed, he met with 
one of our city representatives, who had voted for it, and be- 
stowed upon him a severe objurgation, for his vote on that 



38 SCHOOLS OF CINCINNATI. 

occasion, on the ground that he had sacrificed the interests of 
his fellow citizens thereby ; closing with the remark " you have 
mortgaged all my property, irredeemably and forever." A 
few years afterwards, this gentleman called upon the ex-repre- 
sentative, at Washington, where he was residing, in an official 
station, and recalled to his recollection, the conversation above 
mentioned, and added, " I have now called to apologise to you 
for the remarks I made on that occasion, and to acknowledge 
my mistake; I now consider the value of my property doubled 
by the school law, instead of being lessened, as I then sup- 
posed." 

This city was the first to carry this law into full effect — has 
been the most constant an(i persevering in efforts to bring the 
system to perfection, and has, consequently, experienced its 
benefits most decidedly. For many years our greatest pride 
has been, not like Cornelia, to show our children to our visitors, 
as our chiefest jewels, but to show the factories we have erected 
and furnished with skillful operators, for making them into jew- 
els — jewels, among which we trust will be found some more 
precious than the Pitt diamond, the Kohinoor, the Russian, or 
any other of the jeweled decorations of royalty' — such as our 
country has already shown to the world, she is able to produce, 
which, like Washington and Franklin, decorated not only their 
own country, but the world. 

It is worthy of remark, in exemplification of the quiet, si- 
lent influence for our political good, of these schools, that, in 
the election of trustees and visitors, and in the appointment of 
the examiners, they furnish almost the only example of the best 
and fittest men being selected by public suffrage for office ; and 
the favorable results which have thereby been produced, it is to 
be hoped, may, by degrees, enlighten our minds so much on the 
subject of choosing our officers, that a new system may be 
adopted for their selection. Our city has now been enabled to 
give contrasted examples, of selecting, for office, some men 
for their fitness, and others, (if we may judge men by their 
measures,) for their unfitness; and the former are found, by ex- 
perience, to be decidedly the most profitable. The latter, it is 



C M M N S C H L S . 39 

true, may be considered as most correct representatives of the 
ignorant : and it is therefore the more incumbent upon us, to 
make a majority of our voters intelligent. 

Our school board consists of two members from each ward, 
elected by the people, and styled the Board of School Visitors, 
by whom, another body styled the Board of Examiners, is ap- 
pointed, whose duty it is to examine carefully every applicant 
for the office of teacher ; and an increasing zeal and rigid at- 
tention to the duties of their office, has been exhibited, so that 
certificates of fitness for the office of teacher, from this board, 
are relied on with implicit confidence. The duties, indeed, of 
both boards, have been so faithfully fulfilled, that the schools of 
this city are considered as models, to be studied with advan- 
tage, by those who desire to learn the most effective and 
judicious modes of conducting and governing such schools. 

The Board of Visitors holds weekly sessions ; it has control 
of the funds raised by taxation, or otherwise, for school purpo- 
ses, and performs all the legislation necessary to the good 
management of all matters connected with the school system. 

The two high schools are under the management of a Board, 
consisting of six members of the common school Board, the 
five trustees of the Woodward fund, and two of the trustees of 
the Hughes fund. The pupils of these schools are selected 
from the most meritorious and promising of the other schools 
of the city — such as have given proofs of the possession of 
the talents and industry, requisite to make it profitable for them 
to be enabled to continue their studies. By this mode of se- 
lection, which is rigidly adhered to, the pupils of the high 
school possess an advantage, which is not shared by those of 
our colleges and universities; the advantage, namely : of not 
being classed with drones, who cannot, or idlers, who will not 
improve. 

An intermediate school has lately been established, chiefly 
for the purpose of testing, by experiment, the policy of such a 
division of our schools, or making other divisions, after the 
modes of Philadelphia, New York, or Boston. These cities 
have, at different times, been visited by deputations, from ours, 



40 SCHOOLS OF CINCINNATI. 

for the purpose of examining their schools, with a view of as- 
certaining whether they possess advantages over ours, in any 
respect, and whether improvements may be made by the adop- 
tion of any of the details in which they differ from our system. 

A State Commissioner of Schools is annually elected by the 
people, and the office is no sinecure. Its arduous duties have, 
for some years past, been faithfully fulfilled, and with good re- 
sults. Indeed, the improvements in our schools, already made, 
and in progress, with the increased and increasing apprecia- 
tion of their value, by the public, afford us better hopes for the 
future destiny of our State, than any other circumstance to 
which we can refer. In the valuable report of H. H. Barney, 
the present commissioner, on the" American system of Graded 
Free Schools," it is stated, that previous to the year 1830, " the 
attention of the public had not been called to the importance 
of having teachers specially trained for their calling, nor of 
having some more effectual means of supervising their labors, 
and securing for them the co-operation of the public, as well 
as the powerful aid of government. The grand idea seemed 
to have been overlooked, that the great end of public instruc- 
tion was, not merely to have schools, but to have good schools 
— schools which should awaken mind, and cultivate good 
principles." 

The period of carelessness, in respect to our free schools, we 
trust, has now passed away forever. The community have 
learned valuable lessons, which, we hope, will not be forgotten ; 
nor that talents of the highest order, are not too high for em- 
ployment in the instruction of youth, and that industry and 
diligence may find a field for operation worthy of their labors 
in the cause of general education. 

In "the twenty-sixth annual report of the Trustees and Vis- 
itors of the common schools of Cincinnati, for the year ending 
30th June, 1855," the financial statistics of all our schools is 
given, from which the following extract is taken : 

" It results from the foregoing statement, that, exclusive of 
expenditures tor real estate and buildings, the actual mainten- 
ance of all the schools, for the year, has cost the city $120,878.29 



COMMON SCHOOLS. 41 

for an average attendance of 10,537 pupils, or at the rate of 
$11.47 per pupil. In this the support of the high schools is 
included, which cost $13,047.77 for an average attendance of 
251 pupils, or at the rate of $51.98 per pupil." 

The amount of the State school tax paid by Cincinnati, last 
year, was $113,021.52, and, in the distribution, we have re- 
ceived back, as our share, but $56,992.32. This results from 
the manner in which it is assessed, and the principle on which 
it is distributed. The assessment is ad valorem, the distribution 
per capita. Mr. King, the President of the school board, in his 
report, complains of the injustice of such an inequality of tax- 
ation ; he says, very correctly : " The injustice here arraigned 
is in the distribution, and not in the tax itself. It is the sinister 
mode of taxing by one rule and dividing by another. If it 
were a public bounty, like the surplus revenue distributed by 
the Federal Government, among the States, ihe per capita scale 
would be the just one. But this is no bounty; it is levied tax. 
If it were levied, like other State taxes, for the uses and neces- 
sities of the State, that, too, might end all question as to its 
appropriation ; but it is for local, and not for State purposes — 
it is collected by the State, only to be paid back again, not, 
however, by the same measure. It is to this, that we invoke 
the just and candid deliberation of our legislators." 

Although there can be no justification for our late Jacobinal 
legislatures' acta, which treated Cincinnati as an enemys' coun- 
try which it was their duty, according to laws of war, to distress 
by every means in their power, yet we consider this school law 
as one which may be borne patiently in view of the good that 
may be among its results. This city can afford to pay extra 
taxes for the diffusion of knowledge and extension of educa- 
tion until intelligence among voters is so increased that they 
will elect men to represent them with too much common sense 
to desire to kill the goose that lays the golden egg. She can 
better bear unjust taxation for this object, because it will help 
to enlighten other portions of the State which have their share 
in the control of her destinies, than to bear her share of the 
disgrace brought on our State by the enactment of a law more 
6 



42 SCHOOLS OF CINCINNATI. 

arbitrary than any civilized country, however absolute and des- 
potic its government, has ever submitted to. A law, namely, 
authorizing government officials to violate the sacred right of 
individuals to protect their property, by providing for it the se- 
curity of locks and bolts. If, from the other specimens of un- 
just and unequal legislation, we might have a hope of deriving 
the incidental benefit that may flow from this measure of un- 
equal taxation for the support of schools, we might bear them 
patiently — consider the taxes levied upon us for the support of 
Free Schools an investment for the benefit of posterity, and 
that admission to their benefits ought to be as extensive as 
practicable. It is as necessary to guard our rights and liberties 
by universal education and the general difi^usion of knowledge, 
as for the farmer to guard his fields from the depredations of 
animals by hedges and fences ; or for emperors and kings to 
guard their perogatives and powers by standing armies. Com- 
mon Schools are the standing armies of freemen, 

A new and very important addition to the value of our 
school system is the establishment of a Free School Library, 
supported by a tax, amounting this year to upwards of three 
thousand dollars, a sum which, in a few years, will give us a 
library equal in value to those of the best and oldest seminaries 
in our country, provided that the selection of books continues 
as judicious as has been commenced. It is proposed^ in the 
report, to enlarge the Central School building, where it is now 
placed, to adapt it to the increased requirement of rooms, but 
we hope that the suggestion of Mr. Caldwell, in the subjoined 
note from him, may be adopted in its stead.* 

*Office of the Public Schools, } 

No. 52 Centke Stkeet, y 

Cincinnati, O., June 1, 1855. 
To the Special Committee of the School Board on the location of"' The People's Library : 

Gentlemen: Entertaining an earnest desire to see the " Library of the People" 
started as favorably as possible, permit me to add to the suggestions already made 
some views as to the permanent locality of the same. 

If a location near the centre of business be more desirable than one near the centre 
of municipal territory, or bounds of population, it has occurred to me that a choice of 
rooms, everything else being equal, near the Post Office, and on or near a generally 
frequented street would not only be desirable, but specially advantageous. 

The Mercantile Library Association, in 1846, made an arrangement with the 
Directora of Cincinnati College for the perpetual use of the front portion of the sec- 



COMMONSCHOOLS 43 



We do not undertake to give the statistics of our schools, but 
we recommend to the attention of all, those containod in the 
able reports of President King, Commissioner Barney, and Su- 
perintendent RickofF, as well as all ihe other useful facts and 
suggestions in those valuable documents. 

ond story of the new stone building intended to be erected, and which is now known 
as " College Hall," for the sum of ten thousand dollars. 

I would suggest that the Committee consider the expediency of treating with the 
Directors of Cincinnati College for the perpetual use of the rear room in the same 
story of College Hall, now occupied as a Merchants' Exchange, (the Chamber of Com- 
merce could, no doubt, be provided with quarters at Masonic Hall, or elsewhere,) to be 
occupied as a " Library room." It is a room which would, perhaps, be unexcelled any 
where for the purpose, and would be commodious enough for the growth of a fourth 
of a century ai least. 

Also, for the whole tier of rooms on the first floor, immediately below, once rented 
to the City of Cincinnati for Council Chamber and Public Offices, which could be 
used as follows : The Main Hall below, where the City Council held its ses- 
sions, could be the Session Hall of the School Board, the Union Board, the Board 
ot Examiners, &c. The other rooms on that floor could be appropriately assigned to 
the Clerk, Superintendent, Committees, &c. Access could be had from the Library 
room, above, to the Clerk's office, in the south end below, by a broad stairway through 
the floor of the Library room. 

If the Clerk should be retained as Librarian, he would thus have an excellent op- 
portunity, by the intimate connection of the rooms, to superintend the whole. 

The advantages of a commodious, nearly fire-proof room, in a great, central and 
public situation, accessible by the front hall door steps, in connection with that to the 
Mercantile Library Association, under the same roof, make it desirable for scholars and 
families, saving time to those seeking to take books from both Libraries, and affording 
the Librarians of each an opportunity to select works not duplicated in their respec- 
tive Libraries ; while, to strangers, a simultaneous visit could be made with but little 
loss of time. 

The heating of the whole building, as well as that of the new Hall of Smith & 
Nixon, adjoining, and a few adjacent stores, might be economically effected by one 
apparatus, at a material reduction in expense to all concerned. 

It is reasonable to suppose that the managers of the College property, who are our 
old and public spirited citizens, will make a very liberal arrangement with the School 
Board, and be proud to associate so noble an institution as that of the Common 
Schools of Cincinnati with what was once the seat of education in Cincinnati, and on 
a spot where religion and public instruction first built their alters in our midst. (The 
fee simple of the whole ground was originally given to the Trustees, on the sole con- 
dition of furnishing gratuitous instruction to twenty-five pupils, while the School 
Board offers free, to all, the blessings of a good education.) 

I am desirous of aiding in building up this great work, which, I venture to predict, 
will be the pride and ornament of the Common Schools, and cf the City of Cincinnati; 
and, whatever may be the determination of the Committee, and of the Board, and 
whatever be the relations I hold to it, I shall be proud to add any energy I possess to 
carry it out. Respectfully yours, 

JOHN D. CALDWELL, Clerh 



CHAPTER V. 



COLLEGE OF TEACHERS. 

The invention of tools, is said, by a certain writer, to com- 
prise all the useful inventions of civilized life, and all the arts 
that give value to the material wealth of mankind. The power 
of these inventions is in the mind, which, itself, requires tools, 
and requires, also, a continual progress of invention and im- 
provement in them. The teacher's vocation is to use the tools 
of the mind, which have been invented — to improve them, if he 
can — and to invent such additional ones as he finds, from ex- 
perience, to be necessary. The mechanic invents and improves 
tools for the purpose of increasing human power over matter, 
whereby he increases the physical comforts and enjoyments of 
life. The teacher improves the means of calling forth and 
strengthening the powers of the mind, by which m^n is con- 
stantly exalted in the scale of being, and attains higher pow- 
ers and faculties. 

Associations of inventors, for purposes of mutual aid and 
improvement, are of very modern date. So are, also, those of 
teachers, for similar purposes. The earliest of these last asso- 
ciations, in the West, was styled the " Western Literary Institute 
and College of Teachers." It was founded by the venerable Al- 
bert Picket, who had devof ed a long life of diligent, persevering 
efforts to the improvement of mind, by means of improvements 
in education — a life of vigilance in observing the influence of 
various modes of instruction, and devising means for improving, 
correcting, and increasing the best of these influences. 

The benefits of associations of different minds, for the same 
object, are seen and felt to be the peculiar distinction of civil- 



COLLEGE OF TEACHERS. 45 

ized life, and the efficient aid in its progress. This, in relation 
to education, by the progress of society, required an extension 
beyond those associations in which a number of teachers are 
combined in one institution to form one body for a certain in- 
variable course of study for all pupils alike. 

The best insterests of mankind require that all the powers of 
various classes of men, and all the various observations made 
by them, should be concentrated to a focus in which their pow- 
ers could be made to operate in their fullest extent. 

This is peculiarly the case with teachers. Every possible 
variety of human character is seen by them under the various 
influences of country, of modes of life, of forms of government, 
and of parental character. But all these can never be observed 
by one individual, nor can they be communicated in any method 
so effective as that of the assembling of many from as many 
places as circumstances will permit. 

The Institution now under consideration, was intended to in- 
clude particularly the Western States, but not to be limited by 
any geographical bound if they could be extended still further. 

Cincinnati being th&most convenient place for the proposed 
assemblage, was fixed upon as the site of the College of Teach- 
ers, and its meetings were to be annual. Every one was de- 
sired to communicate every thing in his power which could ad- 
vance the cause of educational improvement. Communications 
were to be in addresses, by reports in writing, by discussions, or 
any method that best suited the views of the individual ; and 
the records of the proceedings of the college contain specimens 
of all these varieties of communication. The institution was 
established in 1831, and its first session was well attended and 
very interesting. Its regular meetings were continued till 1846, 
and six volumes of its transactions were published. Gentlemen 
of distinguished talent, from various parts of the United States, 
attended different sessions, and contributed their powers to ad- 
vance its objects. Among them in 1832, was the late T. S. 
Grimke, of South Carolina, a gentleman distinguished for 
talent, learning, philanthropy, and patriotism ; and among the 
discussions held, was one between him and Alexander Kinmont, 



46 SCHOOLS OF CINCINNATI. 

of Cincinnati, of unsurpassing interest. This last named gentle- 
man was a Scotchman by birth, whose love for freedom, and 
hopes to be more extensively useful to mankind, induced him to 
emigrate to America, and after various changes of place, to fix 
his permanent abode in this city, where he established a 
school. He was profoundly versed in classical literature, an 
eminent mathematician ; possessed of the social virtues in the 
highest degree ; and of a genius, that if his life had been pro- 
longed, would undoubtedly have enrolled his name high among 
those of men of perpetual renown. Mr. Grimke had com- 
menced a war of extermination against the ancient classics, and 
and the use of the Greek and Latin languages He delivered 
a very eloquent and learned discourse in support of his opiu' 
ions, to which Kinmont replied in a speech containing good 
strong common sense, united with pungent wit and fine delicate 
humor ; and the gratification of hearing such a discussion by 
two such powerful antagonists, will not soon be forgotten by 
those who had the good fortune to be present. 

Both these gentlemen are since dead, and their loss was re^ 
gretted by all who loved and valued genius and learning com- 
bined with purity of heart. Grimke died of cholera on his 
homeward journey, and Kinmont a few years after, of fever. 
His death deprived us of a teacher of whose future career of 
usefulness we had formed the highest expectations. So beauti- 
ful a combination of learning, genius, industry, and strength, 
with purity, and love of virtue and beauty, is seldom to be found. 
An educator of youth, with learning and talents combined like 
his, with unquestioned goodness of heart, and desires for the 
improvement of his pupils, will have more influence in forming 
their character than any Theologian however eloquent, and 
Kinmont's influence would always have been for good to his 
pupils. 

With a view to the extension and increase of the benefits of 
the College, two of its sessions, those of 1843 and 1844, were 
held at Louisville, Ivy., but this was not found to be so suitable 
a place as Cincinnati, and in 1845 it returned, and held there a 
very interesting session, which was attended by delegates from 



COLLEGEOFTEACHERS. 47 

New York, Pennsylvania, Maryland, and Virginia, as well as 
li'om the Western States. This College, however, ceased the 
publication of its proceedings after those of 1840; which was 
unfortunate, both for the public, and the Association : — to the 
public, because each of the^six volumes already published, con- 
tained a great amount of valuable matter, which every succeed- 
ing session increased, — and lost ; — to the association, because 
the want of a continuance of such publications discouraged 
many of the valuable members entirely, and rendered others 
lukewarm, and finally caused a suspension of the sessions of the 
Institution. 

The volumes published contain such a mass of valuable in- 
formation, of useful suggestions, and of sound doctrines, that 
they excite regret that a more extended circulation could not 
have been given them. They contain the thoughts of men of 
strong, discriminating minds, who have devoted their time and 
their powers to the instruction of youth, and have been un- 
wearied in their search for improvements in the means and 
methods of communicating knowledge, as well as of promoting 
its increase. The last of these volumes, published in 1841, in 
its preface, speaking of them, very justly remarks : 

'•A leading feature throughout the whole series is an earnest 
enforcement of sound, enlightened religious instruction as an 
essential element in the education demanded by the genius 
of our country, as indispensable to the healthful growth of our 
republican institutions. Thus will the sentiments of the volume 
be found to be in perfect sympathy with that growing public 
sentiment proclaimed throughout the land, that the progress of 
pure Christianity are appreciated and adopted ; and that these 
appliances can be insured to the American character generally, 
only by their incorporation with the educational systems of the 
Republic. 

"For these reasons, the present volume, however unpretend- 
ing in other respects, has claims for its circulation ; and it is 
ardently hoped, that as far as the edition allows, a copy will find 
its way to the house of every friend of Education, Civil Liberty, 
and Piety." 



48 SCHOOLS OF CINCINNATI. 

It was doubly unfortunate that the recommendation in the 
last paragraph could not have been carried into effect. The 
institution was suffered to languish and die, but its influences 
still survive. 

How much of the progress of our schools, and systems of 
education is due to them, it is impossible to state. How much 
support they have given to Christian principles, and Christian 
philanthropy, we cannot measure, nor the amount of the check 
to those errors which are constantly seeking new fields for the 
display of new forms of warfare against truth and human 
happiness. The institution was one of the various recruits for 
the army of truth which was needed, — and how much it was 
needed, we have only to refer to the rise and progress of a 
sect so disgraceful to the enlightened period in which we live, 
as that of the Mormons, to demonstrate. A sect, which, if a 
supposition of its rise had been suggested in the College, for 
the illustration of any subject, would have been considered the 
supposition of an impossible case. But it is one which now 
should make us sensible of the danger to which society is con- 
stantly exposed, and warn us of the necessity of constant vigil- 
ance to guard against those seeds of evil which are always in 
its system, and which require incessant struggles to oppose, in 
order to prevent them from corrupting the whole system of 
society, both political and religious. 

And altho' in our system of government, the separation of 
Church and State is effected, and each made as independent of 
the other as possible, yet it is utterly impracticable to prevent 
their mutual influences, and they are always striving, each to 
to obtain the aid of the other, because their united forces can 
make head against liberty. 

Mormonism is, like Mahomedism, necessarily despotism. 
Atheism is necessarily anarchy. Christianity alone is suscep- 
tible of being the ruling religious principle in a Republic, and 
that it may prevail and guard that form of government, it is 
necessary to address the caution of its founder, to governors 
and governed alike, "I say unto all — watch," We are in the 
habit of thinking that the progress of political enlightenment 



COLLEGE OF TEACHERS. 49 

has been such, that the danger of being crushed by the iron heel 
of despotism is long past, but we, none of us, know our danger, 
as the example of which we have been speaking, proves. Who, 
twenty years ago, would not have ridiculed the idea, that a des- 
potic government could exist in one of our territories, and yet 
such an one is now existing ; and the doctrine of squatter sov- 
ereignty may give us another from the Celestial empire. 

But republican institutions are exposed to other dangers, of 
which few are aware. Our prosperity has made us proud, and 
our successes in war have made us arrogant. The prevailing 
idea, that military success is a qualification for civil office, is a 
canker that eats into the hearts of our enterprising and ambi- 
tious young men, making them desirous of a state of warfare 
for our country, in which they hope to be distinguished, and 
thereby rise to high offices in the State, as many have already 
done; some through their military talents, and others from bear- 
ing military titles, and having been present when the talents of 
others gave success to our armies. 

The prevalence of such feelings and opinions has occasioned 
diseases, of which other republics have died. A perfect des- 
potism will, after a while, become necessary for the government 
of a people, who are lovers of conquest, and who desire other 
people's territories. As long as we could conquer the Indian 
tribes, one after another, in our neighborhood, and purchase 
their lands, we got along very well, and when we found our next 
neighbors were like them, feeble and disunited, we conquered 
and purchased more lands from them. But, what is to become 
of us, when we get all the land? Ancient Rome, and modern 
Turkey, may give answer. When war and conquest became a 
necessary of life to these countries, (as it seems to be now to 
the French people,) a despotic emperor became also necessary. 
After one was put down, a very brief experiment confirmed 
that necessity, and despotism and war are fixed institutions in 
those countries that have extended their boundaries by conquest. 
We extend ours by purchase, after compelling a sale by war. 

There has lately been a proposal to revive the College of 
Teachers under a new appellation, but with the same objects, 

7 



50 SCHOOLS OF CINCINNATI. 

and we notice among the names of those who propose the 
plan, those whose experience, talents, and zeal in a good cause 
give assurance, that if the plan is carried into effect, it will, like 
its prototype, give efficient aid to the progress of sound doc- 
trine, and benefit our country extensively by its efforts. The 
progress of filibusterism in morals and of spiritualism, in phys- 
ical (or intellectual which ?) operations call for the aid of the 
Teacher ; and all the combined power of instructors is neces- 
sary to understand, and point out the new phases of life and 
doctrine, that are continually coming into existence, and requir- 
ing new researches, and new modes of acquiring knowledge. 
Political, social, and moral weeds are continually sprouting up, 
and requiring extermination : and this work is never finished ; 
new species take the place of old ones, and seeds of evil of all 
kinds are discovered to be waiting for a chance to come forth. 

The schoolmaster is always required to be as attentive and 
watchful to discover the means of lessening mental labor, aa 
the inventor of machines for lessening bodily labor, — in neither 
case, however, is it to be desired, that labor, mental or bodily, 
should cease, but that a given amount should produce a greater 
effect, ^ — that in one case human comforts should be increased 
and multiplied, and in the other, that human character should 
be improved ; and in both cases, that an increased number of 
persons should be enabled to enjoy whatever benefits are pro- 
du'^ed. The excellence^ — the superiority — of a teacher is not 
BO soon felt, as that of an eloquent speaker in the pulpit, at the 
bar, or on the stump ; but it is more deeply felt, and longer re- 
membered. The pupils of Kinmont, of Dr. Ray, of the mur- 
dered Butler, will always remember their teachings with grati- 
tude and affection, and their influences will be seen, and felt in 
society, though it may not be known whence it is derived. 

The following excellent recommendation, by a Committee of 
the College, was not carried into effect by that institution, but 
in respect to the common schools, the object proposed to be at- 
tained by it, has in a great measure been effected by the exer- 
tions of our school boards, our State and County superintend- 
ants, and our enlightened industrious teachers. Everything is 



COLLBGE OF TEACHERS. 51 

not indeed yet accomplished, but great progress has been made, 
and we trust it will be continued. The detailed and instructive 
reports by Barney, RickofF, and King, before referred to, con- 
stitute a reply to that part of the requisition to which the Com- 
mittee refer, as appropriate, as would probably have been made 
by a special committee, appointed according to the suggestion, 
and the progress towards correctness will probably be, as sug- 
gested, yearly increased. 

"Permit us to suggest what we consider a most important 
measure, and one which we cannot but believe that the College 
is prepared to take up, viz : TJie state of Colleges and Common 
Schools in the West. We would respectfully suggest that a 
committee be appointed at this session, who shall be requested 
to report on this subject at our next anniversary meeting. Let 
them not only tell us in detail what are the character and con- 
dition of educational institutions, but what are their defects, 
and how these may be remedied. It may be that such a docu- 
ment, requiring, as it would, mu«h observation, extensive cor- 
respondence, and patient reflection — might at first be compara- 
tively very defective, still we ought to make a beginning in this 
matter. When once the work is commenced, every year would 
add to its growth and value. New channels of communication 
would be continually opening to us, and new information flow- 
ing in upon us. We would at last, and that we are persuaded 
in no very great length of time, be able to present to the public 
a document full of instruction, and one highly calculated to 
improve all our educational institutions." 



CHAPTER VI 



ACADEMY OF NATURAL SCIENCES. 

The geological survey of the State of Ohio, ordered by its 
legislature in 1836, was a measure, (adopted both for the promo- 
tion of a most important science, and for appropriating its bene- 
fits,) — as honorable to the State, as the neglect and suffering 
that survey to cease before it was perfected, is disgraceful. 

If our condition had been so low in pecuniary resources, as 
to require us to descend to such comparatively minute savings 
as the salaries of the geologists, it might lessen this disgrace ; 
but when we have raised such large amounts by heavy, un- 
equal, and unjust taxation, and the treasury is so overflowing, 
that many of the officials who have the disposal of the public 
funds, seem to consider it a part of their duties to squander 
them unnecessarily, or pocket them unlawfully ; there is no 
excuse on the score of economy, that can be admitted as a plea 
in justification, or palliation of this backward step towards a 
state of ignorance and barbarism. 

The State of New York has set us many good examples in 
relation to measures for the encouragement of science — such 
as may in some measure atone for the bad examples she has 
given in politics — and the complete, thorough, geological survey 
of that State is one of them. 

The publications containing the various reports of this sur- 
vey are in a style, and on a scale worthy of that great state ; 
a State that has become the greatest in the Union, not so much 
by her geographical position, and natural internal resources, — 
being inferior to Virginia in both these respects, — as by the 



ACADEMY OF NATURAL SCIENCES. 53 

fact, that in all her political heresies, errors, false doctrines, and 
follies, she has always been true to the cause of universal edu- 
cation, and the promotion of science. Whatever party, or 
faction has been in power, any measure for these objects could 
always be carried, provided it was seen to be free from any cor- 
rupt, pecuniary, or electioneering taint. Her frequent adoption 
of false, political theories, and false patriots to carry them into 
effect, has never changed the character of her people in respect 
to their appreciation of the value of the knowledge as a char- 
acteristic of the body of the people. 

We had hopes that the State of Ohio, when she followed the 
lead of New York in her Canal system, would also follow that 
ead in the Geological survey, to which that system aflbrded 
many facilities, and offered many inducements. And by making 
a beginning, our State ought to have considered herself pledged 
to complete the work. In individual matters, or works by pri- 
vate companies, none among the citizens of Cincinnati are 
satisfied to be behind their models in excellence, but they gen- 
erally attempt to go — and indeed generally succeed in going — 
somewhat beyond them. 

Our State ma}' perhaps have gone beyond her model, New 
York, in political corruption, but she has fallen far short in the 
encouragement of scientific objects. Let us hope, however, 
that "a good time is coming" in this respect, and wait for the 
action of a legislature elected upon better principles than cor- 
rupt party intrigues. 

If the two reports which have been made by our State Geol- 
ogists, had not justified the measure — if they had left room for 
any doubts as to its utility — an excuse might be attempted for 
the Vandal-like carelessness of our legislators, which carries us 
backward in the course of civilization, — an excuse, though a 
poor one, might be offered for their refusal to continue a good 
work when it was in good progress, and had called forth two 
such reports as gave important aid to the progress among us 
of the Natural sciences. 

To these sciences some facts which our State could once have 
furnished, have been lost ; but we ought not to suffer the loss 



54 SCHOOLS OF CINCINNATI. 

of any more. Many plants, it is said by our botanists, which 
were once found here have entirely disappeared.* Our indi- 
genious wild animals also, have mostly been extermined, as 
they ought to be ; and our destructive insects are — as they 
ought not to be — becoming constantly more numerous. 

The mere suggestion of some of our short comings in rela- 
tion to the natural sciences, will awaken the recollection of 
many more, and will — or ought to — abate some of the pride 
with which we contemplate our encouragement of, and ad- 
vance in, the other sciences. 

The Geological formation on which Cincinnati is situated is 
very rich in fossils of the lower silurian strata, and this circum- 
stance has naturally led to the formation of rich cabinets in 
that department of natural history. The fluviatile and land 
shells, within a radius of twenty miles, are probably more num- 
erous and varied, than can be found within similar boundaries 
in any region. The Botany of our immediate neighborhood* 
though not so superior in interest is yet sufficient to excite, and 
reward the labors of the scientific botanist. The late Thomas 
G. Lea of our city prepared a catalogue of the plants of Cin- 
cinnati, which has been published since his death by his brother, 
Isaac Lea, of Philadelphia, and as is stated in the preface, by 
Sullivant, of Columbus, contains in the department of Fungi a 
highly valuable contribution to the mycology of the United 
States. Other, and living botanists of our city, have made val- 
uable collections which they are continually increasing, and 
which, it is to be hoped, will at some future day aid in the pro- 
gress of botanical science in our city and State. f 

The establishment of an association for the cultivation of the 
natural sciences in a city which offers so many inducements, 
and facilities for aiding their progress, would, by most men of 
science be considered a matter of course. But it would not be, 
by any means, considered as a matter of course, by such natur- 

* Some of these are mentioned in Mr. Clark's catalogue. 

t A catalogue of the Flowering plants, and Ferns, observed in the vicinity of 
Cincinnati by Joseph Clark, with additions by Robert Buchanan, has been published 
by the Academy. 



ACADEMY OF NATURAL SCIENCES. 55 

alists as Lyell, Verneuil, Agassiz, Hall, and many other eminent 
naturalists who have visited our city, and seen the private 
cabinets it contains, that such an institution should meet with 
so many discouragements, and make so slow a progress in 
comparison with our other institutions, as we regret to be ob- 
liged to record. We have not indeed among us many professed 
naturalists, who make it the business of their lives to cultivate 
those sciences, but we have a number who devote their period 
of relaxation from business to this cultivation, and who have 
done much in some of its departments. 

The natural sciences did not obtain as early attention among 
us as other sciences. Drake's picture of Cincinnati, was the 
earliest work in which they obtained more than a passing notice ; 
and at that time, and for a considerable period thereafter, very 
little appreciation of them seemed to exist. As late as in 1820, 
the writer was surprised to see in one of the city newspapers, an 
editorial article ridiculing naturalists as mere collectors of 
bugs, stones, weeds, &c., to which he was induced to reply, and 
call attention to the value of natural history, and the induce- 
ments for its study in this region. And afterwards in Godman's 
Quarterly Reporter, referring to the same subject, he made the 
following, with various other remarks : 

"Of the relative importance of natural history compared with 
other sciences, we shall not speak in this place : of its positive 
importance we are convinced, and desirous to see the wide 
fields for action which are to be found in different parts of its 
extent, filled by men of zealous and enlightened minds. 

" Of the natural sciences, none have been so much the subject 
of ridicule as Geology and Mineralogy, and none are less de- 
serving of it. The neglect and ignorance of them among edu- 
cated men is a much fitter subject of ridicule. It is well known to 
all in this country, that a great deal of labor and large sums of 
money, have been wasted in search of the precious metals, in 
situations where a slight degree of knowledge on these subjects 
would have manifested the hopelessness of the search ; indeed, 
the instances of the loss of time and money in searching for 
these metals in situations where they never occur, are so vari- 



56 SCHOOLS OF CINCINNATI. 

ous and frequent among all classes, that it would seem as if 
some knowledge on these subjects ought to form part of the 
education of every individual. Their utility to the agricultu- 
ralist will readily be perceived." 

The remark in relation to geology and mineralogy, was ex- 
cited by the writer's being informed by a distinguished physi- 
cian and highly accomplished gentleman, who has since become 
eminent in literature and science, particularly the natural sci- 
ences, that he had become a stockholder in a gold (or silver) 
mine in the neighberhood of Zanesville, consequently among 
the coal measures. A company was formed in that vicinity 
that wasted a considerable amount of money in search of the 
precious metals in such a formation. 

And, in relation to the ridicule so frequently cast upon natu- 
ralists at that period, it was remarked : 

" The errors, follies, and extravagancies of some teachers, 
have been, perhaps deservedly, laughed at — such as mistake 
the compilation of nomenclatural dictionaries for teaching sci- 
ence, pride themselves on refuting the arrangements of others, 
and yet do nothing but pile up masses of barbarous terms, 
which some succeeding arranger shall overturn, if they do not 
of themselves tumble into ruins. It is not surprising that many 
young persons should be deterred from commencing studies, 
which require great labor to acquire the technicals, and a long 
time before they resolve what system to pursue; A naturalist 
is a proper subject of ridicule only when he is found continu- 
ally cavilling at faults of old systems and offering new ones, in- 
stead of promulgating truth and instructing the ignorant; when 
he appears more delighted to discover an error in a fellow la- 
borer than in the investigation of facts ; when he appears to 
take pains to render the aspect of philosophy inelegant and 
repulsive, in order to show his knowledge of everything except 
his immediate subject. If natural history be freed from these 
incumbrances and clothed with simple and appropriate drapery, 
like a truly beautiful female, slie presents attractions to every 
eye." 

Our national government has acquired some honor by its au- 
thorization of several geological surveys of the western Terri- 



ACADEMY OF NATURAL SCIENCE. 57 

tories, and the publication of the volumes containing the reports 
of the latest surveys made under the direction of Dr. D. D. 
Owen, is in a style worthy of our country and of the facts they 
tecord and illustrate. 

This survey was of Wisconsin, Iowa, and Minesota, with a 
portion of the Nebraska Territory, conducted by a band of 
very able naturalists, consisting, besides Dr. Owen, of Dr. J. 
G. Norwood, Assistant Geologist, and, as heads of sub-corps, 
of Drs. J. Evans, B. F. Shumard, B. C. Marcy, Ch. Whittlesey. 
A. Lytton, and R. Owen, with sub-assistants G. Warren, H. 
Pratten, B. F. x\Ieek, J. Beal, and Dr. J. Leidy, all able natu- 
ralists. 

In the early national geological surveys of the public terri- 
tories an economic motive, viz. to ascertain the quality of the 
lands, and to discover their mineral treasures, was recognized 
as motive for the ordaining them ; and this, to so large a land- 
holder as the government of the United States, was a sufficient 
motive. The advancement of science in this, as in many other 
cases, was an incidental, of more value than the main, object. 

The discovery and description of such formations as that of 
the Mauvaise Terres, in Nebraska, and several others in the Lake 
Superior region, give us some novelties in geology quite ex- 
citing. They are not, indeed, discoveries like those of Colum- 
bus, but they may be compared in geology with those of Cap- 
tain Cook in geography, and may constitute an era in the for- 
mer like the others in the latter science. 

The geology of our country, and that of Great Britain, the 
home of the most eminent geologists of the present day, are 
each on a scale of extent remarkably similar to the comparative 
extent of the two countries ; that of Great Britain being very 
limited, and at the same time so varied in its formations as to in- 
clude nearly all of those which have been established and class- 
ified by modern naturalists, and it requires but few researches, 
with comparatively light labor, to obtain all the knowledge they 
afford. Those of the United States, on the contrary, being on 
a scale of great extent, require for their exploration more labor 
than individuals can afford to give for the mere love of science; 
8 



58 SCHOOLS OP CINCINNATI. 

and the knowledge gained by such expeditions as those sent 
out by government would, if left to individuals alone, be only 
obtained at different and probably distant periods, and would 
require more of their time and labor than could be afforded, to 
prepare and arrange in due order, so that the facts they com- 
municate could be suitably combined and published. 

The establishment of a society for the cultivation of the nat- 
ural sciences was, as we have said, to be naturally expected 
where so many inducements for their cultivation were found. 
The academy was incorporated by the legislature, and for 
a time seemed to give promise of a prosperous career. Its first 
meetings were held in the old College building, but when the 
Mechanics' Institute had possession of the Trollopian Bazaar, 
it accommodated the Academy with rooms sufficient for its 
purposes, and in a very convenient situation, free of expense. 
Since its expulsion from that building, it has wandered about 
seeking rest but finding none for any considerable period. One 
of the fire companies, (No. 4,) which was disbanded at the time 
of the adoption of the new system in the fire department, gave 
its furniture to the Academy, and a perpetual free use of one 
of its halls, which would have been a very convenient and suit- 
able situation for its permanent location. It was, however, 
determined by the City Council, that the company had not the 
right to make such an appropriation of its hall, and that it must 
revert to the fire department. The Academy is now in an in- 
convenient situation, in the College building, but it is hoped 
that some measures may be adopted for giving it a more per- 
manent and convenient local habitation, lest its name, like that 
of the Academy of Fine Arts, should soon be found to belong 
to airy nothing. 

The cabinet and library of the Academy have, in consequence 
of the foregoing circumstances, of late ceased to obtain those 
additions by which we might reasonably expect such an insti- 
tution to measure its prosperity. The private cabinets of the 
members are, however, increasing, and some of them are very 
rich in specimens. That of Professor Christy, formerly of Ox- 
ford, and now of the American Female College, of Glendale, 
and that of Dr. Locke, late of the Medical College of Ohio, 



ACADEMY OF NATURAL SCIENCES. 69 

contain very extensive series of geological specimens, embrac- 
ing nearly all of the fossils of our western regions. That of 
Mr. Anthony, containing as nearly all the specimens of known 
shells as any collection whatever, with various others in other 
departments of natural history,* — that of Mr. James Clarke 
including extensive botanical collections, fossils, fishes, &c., 
those of Messrs. R. Buchanan, R. Clarke, G. Graham, H. C. 
Grosvenor, Up P. James, S. T. Carley, and others, contain a 
great variety of beautiful fossils, with other specimens of value. 
Professor Ward, of the Glendale College, has also a constantly 
increasing cabinet in the departments of botany and entomol- 
ogy. These all exemplify the fertility of our region in the means 
of knowledge for the cultivators of the natural sciences, and 
we cannot relinquish the hope that these sciences will hereafter 
receive among us more of the attention to which they are en- 
titled than heretofore. 

The specimens collected during the progress of the Geological 
survey of our State, shared the same neglect as the scientific 
gentlemen who collected them. They were deposited in the 
state library building at Columbus, under the care of nobody, 
and any one who pleased to take any of them away was at 
liberty to do so ; consequently all that were of much value soon 
disappeared, and the collection may be considered as entirely 
dispersed. 

There can be no doubt, however, that the disgrace of the 
State in not continuing and completing the geological survey of 
its territoty, after it had been so favorably commenced will lie 
too heavily on her legislators to be borne ; and that it will be 
renewed under better auspices with sufficient assurance of per- 
severance unto the end, and then it is to be hoped that a better 
place will be assigned to the specimens of her natural history 
than the floor of the old library building. 

The new State-house is on a scale suitable in extent and 
magnificence to the greatness and wealth of the State, and the 
meanness which has formerly characterized her legislative 



*Mr. Anthony has published a Monograph on the Melania, containing many new 
•p»ci«». 



60 SCHOOLS OF CINCINNATI. 

buildings and public offices will soon give place to more suit- 
able structures and better accommodations. Let us hope, that 
when our legislators are more decently housed than at present, 
they will be more liberal in their feelings, and be willing not 
only to allow the Geological survey to be completed, but also 
to provide comfortable rooms for the reception of the specimens, 
that may be collected to illustrate that survey. A State Geol- 
ogist ought also to be appointed, and the office should be per- 
manent : and its duties should be the superintendance, gene- 
rally, of all those matters connected with the natural history of 
the State, that can influence its prosperity, or reflect credit on 
the mental cultivation of its people. 

In the latter half of the eighteenth century. Geology began to 
assume such a form as to entitle it to the appellation of a 
science ; previous to that time it was little else than conjectures 
of philosophers how, and when, and of what the world was 
made. In the present state of the science, it includes not only 
researches into the history of the world before the creation of 
man, and a study of the hieroglyphics in which that history is 
inscribed upon its rocky strata ; but it includes also the theories 
of the formation of soils, their influence on vegetation, and 
consequently the means of their improvement ; with a variety 
of other subjects, that make it one of the most interesting of 
sciences,!^ to an agricultural people especially. The theories 
and hypotheses which have been generated in the progress of 
this science, have not yet much aided its advancement. The 
discovery of facts as revealed by the " medals of creation," 
constitutes most of the history of the progress of the science 
thus far, and its great object (beyond its economical objects) is 
to multiply these facts — it is like Champollion and Young, to 
decypher the hieroglyphics beneath, and upon, the surface of 
the earth, one by one, until we can make out words and sen- 
tences, and thus understand their language. 

Of Geology, Professor Bache, in his sagacious and able ad- 
dress on retiring from the office of President of the American 
Association for the Advancement of Science, says, in relation 
to the formation and proceedings of that institution : "It was 



ACADEMY OF NATURAL SCIENCES. 61 

very prudently left for the Geologists to begin the work. * * * 
The Geological surveys making in several States rendered 
meetings of those engaged in them very necessary, for compar- 
ison, discussion, and systematic effort ; for counsel, aid, and 
mutual improvement. A classification, or the basis of one, was 
to be made ; and only by discussion in such a body could it be 
formed. In that association positive work was the test of con- 
sideration ; to be heard a man must have done something; and 
the more he had done the more patiently he was listened to. 
Thus, far deeper, morally, than the comparative depths they 
explore, the Geologists laid the foundation of the American 
Association. The naturalists associated themselves with the 
nucleus thus afforded, and the association became one of Geol- 
ogist and Naturalists." 

" Many of our States are anxiously alive to the promotion of 
science, both directly and indirectly ; and it is of the greatest 
importance that in moving they should go rightly. The legis- 
lative and executive branches of our general government, are 
often called upon to decide questions which belong rather to 
scientific than to political tribunals. A timel}^ recommenda- 
tion by a scientific Congress, would frequently be a relief from 
serious embarrassment, and insure the most beneficial results 
to the progress of science." 

A certain class of atheistic philosophers has always been 
seeking for some proofs that the Mosaic account of the creation 
of the world is incorrect. They supposed that astronomy had 
furnished that proof when the accounts of the Asiatic (Indian 
and Chinese) and Egyptian records of this science were first pub- 
lished. They imagined, also, that the history of volcanic erup- 
tions, with calculations respecting the different strata they have 
deposited, gave the proofs that they have sought for ; and in 
modern geology, the millions of years that they call up so eas- 
ily for each geological period, enables them to assume any 
hypothesis they please respecting the time when the world was 
created. All these are discovered, one after another, to be 
mere surmises of undisciplined minds ; and they are notsciencf 



62 SCHOOLS OF CINCINNATI. 

but stumbling blocks thrown in its path, which require time and 
labor first to place there and afterwards to remove, which, if 
directed to the ascertainment of real and not conjectural facts, 
would further the progress of science in its natural legitimate 
course. These vagaries of some geologists have had the effect 
of rendering their science unpopular, by giving an idea that its 
tendency is to give color to false theories, and to furnish arms 
to infidelity and scepticism. 

But whatever discoveries may be made by geology, or any 
other science, none can possibly be among them which will de- 
liver the human mind from the fear of future accountability for 
our acts in this life, which is the real object of the cavillers in 
relation to the Mosaic history. If such a discovery could be 
made, earth would soon become a hell, and neither geology, nor 
any department of knowledge, except such as would contribute 
to our sensual gratification, would be considered worthy of 
attention. 

The " Letters on Geology," by Professor Christy, contain 
some calculations showing how easy it is for men of science to 
be led into error when they have some favorite points to estab- 
lish, and when they can make their own facts to suit their own 
opinions, or rather their wishes. These letters are deserving of 
a better dress than that in which they were given to the public, 
for they contain much valuable information not to be found in 
any other work ; and the uninviting appearance of their paper 
and typography causes a neglect which a greater degree of 
beauty in their appearance would remove. 

In Professor Agassiz's remarks, at the close of the session of 
the Association for the Advancement of Science, he stated that 
" he had particularly, and with the utmost satisfaction, exam- 
ined the several collections of rare and valuable fossils exhib- 
ited before the Association. Though familiar with such exhi- 
bitions, on similar occasions, both in America and in Europe, 
he could most safely say, he had never known a more choice 
and valuable collection to be presented on any occasion," than 
those of Professor Christy, and the gentlemen we have before 
referred to as possessing valuable cabinets. 



ACADEMY OF NATURAL SCIENCES. 63 

Whenever a proper sense of the value of geological science 
shall constitute one of the marks of progress in knowledge 
among the masses in our community, we may expect the col- 
lections in the Academy of Natural Sciences, with the proceed- 
ings of that institution, to become as honorable a specimen of 
the progress of our city as are its other institutions. 

In the meantime, we can only recommend to the members of 
that institution, "patience and perseverence." 



CHAPTER VII. 



THE WESLEYAN FEMALE COLLEGE. 

Our institutions for female education have never been neg- 
lected, though they did not formerly present so conspicuous a 
feature in the general aspect of the educational institutions of 
Cincinnati as at present. 

Such institutions, however, were early objects of great interest. 
Several young ladies, during the period in which the Cincinnati 
College was in operation, graduated at that school, having 
passed through the same regular course of study as the male 
pupils. 

Some of these female pupils became teachers, and in 1823, 
Dr. Locke established the " Cincinnati Female Academy," 
which became very popular, and was one of the highest class of 
schools for females in our country. 

During its progress, when public attention was specially de- 
voted to the subject of female education, Miss Fanny Wright, 
an English lady, who had attained some eminence in the liter- 
ary world, and had constituted herself a philosophical mission- 
ary to reform the evils of society, came to enlighten our minds 
on this subject. Like most of the other philosophical reformers 
who have visited us, she, instead of looking forward and around 
her, and seeing things as they actually existed, seemed to turn 
her. vision backward so as to look into her own brain, and see 
there the pictures drawn by fancy or reflected from a knowledge 
of things that might have existed elsewhere, at different times 
and under different circumstances. She gave us a course of 
lectures on female education, beginning by reproving us for 
devoting all our cares to the education of our sons, and entirely 
neglecting that of our daughters — at that period, more espec- 
ially, a very striking proof of the superior power of her imag- 
ination to that of observation. 



WESLEYAN FEMALE COLLEGE. 65 

Among the most detestable of the doctrines she desired to 
inculcate was, that of the impropriety and impolicy of the in- 
stitution of marriage. A doctrine which the late Daniel Roe — 
who, after being blown about by various winds of doctrine, had 
finally joined the atheistic congregation of which she was a 
priestess — fearing she had not stated her opinions respecting it 
sufficiently strong and decidedly, requested her to repeat them, 
and, after she had closed, led her back before the audience for 
that purpose, where she stated her opinions so clearly that they 
could not be misunderstood. 

Her subsequent life and death furnish a melancholy com- 
mentary on the tendency of her doctrines. Notwithstanding her 
avowed principles on the subject of matrimony, she married a 
man who was a prominent leader in her own atheistic school, 
and became the mother of a daughter. She soon, however, 
separated from her husband, perhaps intending to apologise 
thereby for the inconsistency of her conduct with her doctrines, 
and repair the wrong she had done to philosophy as far as she 
was able. Her husband separated her, also, from her daughter, 
and from as much of her property (she had inherited a large 
fortune) as the law would allow. To the education of that 
daughter he devoted much attention, and, probably, imbued her 
mind fully with the doctrines of the atheistical school to which 
he belonged, since she refused to visit her mother, on her death 
bed, at her earnest and repeated request. Maternal love, how- 
ever, was too strong to be overcome by even the sharper than 
serpent's tooth ingratitude of a thankless child, and she be- 
queathed to her all the property of which she had not been de- 
prived by her husband.* 



*Mrs. Darusmont, on her death-bed, regretted that her life had, as she supposed, 
been spent in vain, because it had been the object of her ambition to make it useful to 
mankind. She had devoted time, labor, and money to philanthropic objects, all of 
which had failed to produce the desired and expected results. She was not sensible of 
the cause of their failure, because she had not learned that philanthropic plans not 
based on Christian principles, but_ connected with the repudiation of Christianity, 
for their foundation, will always fail. Her life, however, had not been, as she la- 
mented, lived in vain, for it serves to point a moral ; but it was in vain as to her inten- 
tions and eipectation. She intended it as an example. It eervee for a warning. 

9 



66 SCHOOLS OP CINCINNATI. 

In 1833, Miss Catherine Beecher, who had been the principal of 
the celebrated Female Seminary at Hartford, Con., with her sis- 
ter, Harriet, (now Mrs. H. B. Stowe) established a Female Acad- 
emy at Cincinnati, on a plan similar to that of the female col- 
leges that have since been established, where many young la- 
dies were educated, and on Christian principles of course, whose 
subsequent lives and characters, by the strong contrast they 
make with the character above referred to, afford another in 
addition to numberless examples of the contrasted influence of 
Christianty and Atheism on the female character. The sisters, 
however, retired after a few years from the school, one to become 
a wife, and the other to be a missionary in the cause of female 
education in the Western States — with what success is generally 
known.' 

The superintendence of the school then devolved upon Miss 
Mary Button, an eleiw of the Hartford school, and an assistant in 
that of Cincinnati, who, after continuing it for some time, being 
obliged to relinquish the beautiful situation where her school 
was established, (now the site of St. John's Hospital,) and be- 
ing strongly urged to return to her native State, went to New 
Haven, and established the flourishing seminary over which she 
now presides. 

Previous to the founding of this school, an excellent and 
very successful one had been conducted by Mrs. Ryland, an 
English lady, and which continued until a very recent period to 
be one of the distinguished female schools of the city. 

The Wesleyan Female College, which we name proudly as 
one of the permanent institutions of Cincinnati, was founded 
in 1843, and, as will be inferred from its name, by the Methodist 
denomination ; and it is an honorable testimony of the judicious 
effort by some of the leading members of that denomination in 
the cause of female education. 

Its situation is in the heart of the city, but with sufficient space 
of ground around its buildings to relieve it from the cramped 
and confined aspect of most institutions in the central portions 
of a large city. 



WEBLETAN FEMALE COLLEGE. 67 

It has had since its foundation a uniform course of prosper- 
ity and usefulness — its greatest defect being caused by the high 
reputation it has acquired, which brings more pupils to seek 
admission than can be conveniently accommodated ; and not- 
withstanding the want of sufficient room, the desire to receive 
as many of those who are anxious to obtain the advantages of 
the institution, induces the managers and principals to receive 
sometimes too many; and, though the extent of the buildings 
has been increased, the need of a further increase continues. 

The course of instruction embraces all the branches of learn- 
ing taught in our highest class of female seminaries, and an 
attendance at their examinations cannot fail to give a favorable 
impression of the conduct of the institution. Mr. and Mrs. 
Wilber are the principals, and they are assisted by able teach- 
ers. It has a preparatory and primary department, and the num- 
bers in all the departments and classes are thus reported by the 
examining committee of the institution. 

"The numbers in attendance are exhibited by the following 
table, which has been transcribed from the printed Catalogue ; 

Collegiate department 147 

Preparatory department, first class 88 

Preparatory department, second class 64 

Preparatory department, third class. 43 

Preparatory departmt nt, fourth class 35 

Preparatory department, irregular class 12 

Primary department, first class 26 

Primary department, second class 27 

Total for the session 442 

The languages and sciences taught in other female institu- 
tions are, as we have said, taught in this College, and, from the 
report before referred to, we extract the following judicious re- 
marks, which we are pleased to see, and hope they may be here- 
after applicable to all our male as well as female schools : 

" One feature struck the committee as somewhat prominent, 
and at the same time highly important in every department, 
from the lowest to the highest, adequate attention appears to be 
bestowed upon the study of the English language. The a4- 



68 SCHOOLS OF CINCINNATI. 

vancement of students to the higher branches of science, even 
to classical studies, does not appear to exempt them from con- 
tinuous drilling and exercise in defining, analyzing, and cor- 
rectly writing their mother tongue ; and the committee are 
encouraged to hope that among the graduates of this College 
there will never be found the anomaly, too often encountered, 
of persons classically educated, yet ignorant of the orthogra- 
phy and fundamental principles of their vernacular language." 
The value of moral and intellectual training for American 
women is generally understood and duly appreciated ; indeed, 
such importance is given to it, that we have forgotten that 
physical training is also necessary, and it is but lately that a 
study of the laws of health has been thought of as among the 
instructions proper to be instilled into the minds of young 
women. And the importance of this study, even now, is not 
fully appreciated. But on this subject we shall speak more 
fully in a subsequent chapter 



CHAPTER VIII 



THE FARMERS' COLLEGE, 

The agricultural class of our citizens has always been flat- 
tered and glorified by the other classes of society, and the 
means of giving to farmers that kind of education pecuHarly 
suitable to their vocation has been frequently considered, 
highly recommended, and — neglected. For the consideration 
they have enjoyed, in words, they are indebted to their num- 
bers. They are the most numerous class, and demagogues 
can do a more thriving and extensive business by cajolhig them 
than by any other course of electioneering; and the conse- 
quences have been disastrous to our country. 

Farmers who are uneducated are under great disadvantages, 
and they suffer greatly from a want of that readiness in 
making an immediate apphcation of what knowledge they have, 
when a fluent demagogue undertakes to cajole them for their 
votes, than the other classes, who have their wits more sharp- 
ened by frequent intercourse with each other; and we have 
seen farmers overcome by flippant young men, who had not 
half their sense, nor half their knowledge, because their knowl- 
edge could not be brought out so readily, while that of the other 
party, being very superficial, was always ready. 

It has, unfortunately, generally been taken for granted, that 
if a young farmer acquires what is called a liberal education, 
he abandons agriculture, as a matter of course, that he must 
assume a profession dignified by the appellation of " learned," 
and is thereby incapacitated for returning to the labors of the 
farm. This ought not so to be, and there is no necessity that 
it should be so. But so it will always be, if a young farmer is 
sent to any one of our old colleges or universities for his edu- 
cation, where he associates for years with none but young men 



70 SCHOOLS OF CINCINNATI. 

who think that one of the learned professions is a more respect-^ 
able vocation than the life of a farmer. 

And this is not all ; the habit among educated young men of 
depreciating the vocation of a farmer, has naturally produced a 
prejudice in the minds of our agriculturists against school 
learning, which, when compared with the influence of good 
common sense, combined with experience, is found to be of 
less comparative utility than is assumed for it. 

Besides the want of a just appreciation of the value of 
school education on the part of the farmers, there have always 
existed difficulties in forming, and carrying into successful 
effect, plans for organizing and conducting schools on a good 
system adapted to their calling and prospects. It is true that 
the old-fashioned prejudices against book-learning and book- 
farming are becoming more moderate, disappearing by slow 
degrees, and we trust that that portion of this prejudice which 
checks the progress of education among agriculturists, may be 
buried as effectually as the tenants of our Indian mounds, who 
would not now be unknown and forgotten if they could have 
had book-learning. Very few are now so ignorant as to think 
that ignorance is desirable, or that it is a better qualification for 
a farmer than knowledge, even if the knowledge is gained 
from books. Some may think that learning "don't pay," but 
this opinion must be confined to those who are too lazy to 
acquire it^ — and a lazy farmer is a hopeless case; the attempt 
to improve him don't pay. He is a weed. 

But there are still difficulties in the way of suitable plans for 
the education of farmers, besides the want, on their part, of a 
just appreciation of their importance. Objections to every 
system of agricultural education ever proposed have been 
brought forward. Amonnj them, the most prominent and 
weighty is the idea of the interference of habits of study with 
those of agricultural labor; and the failure of many attempts 
to establish manual labor schools, and make them effective, 
seems to prove the incompatibility of manual with mental 
labor. But this cannot be a reality, because health of body or 
of mind cannot be attained or preserved without a due proporr 



farmers' COLLEaE. 71 

tion of each. The cause of the failure of such attempts should, 
therefore, be diligently sought out and remedied. It may have 
been that a proper division of the time devoted to each kind of 
labor has not been adopted — that the tastes and dispositions 
and moods of mind in different individuals, have not been 
observed judiciously by teachers and directors. The periods 
of the day most t^uitable to each kind of labor, and the time at 
such periods that can inost profitably be devoted to them, has 
probably not been considered philosophically and physiologi- 
cally. The notion of study has been too much connected with 
"the lamp," "the midnight oil," and such modes of connecting 
it with the night as are most mischievous. Morning studies 
are most profitable to the mind, and so are morning labors to 
I he body. How, then, shall they be regulated in connection? 
This question must wait for an answer until experiments shall 
have been made sufficient to authorize one. If a similar ques- 
tion arises among mechanics and inventors, they never rest 
until they have made experiments enough to settle it. 

Another most important difficulty in the way of agricultural 
education, has been that of finding suitable teachers. If a man 
could be educated for a teacher of farmers, and be a practical 
agriculturist while acquiring the necessary knowledge, this 
would supply a most important desideratum. Another great 
desideratum in every teacher, and more especially in a teacher 
of farmers, is that he should not be so desirous to display his 
knowledge as to communicate it. 

A readiness to remember scientific names and words, is not 
an aptitude to acquire knowledge. To learn the nature and 
properties of the things to which the names belong, and to 
understand their utility or uselessness, is knowledge. The 
habits of many teachers of requiring only the memory of 
words instead of the exercise of thought, is one which would 
be particularly out of place in such an institution as is wanted 
lor the agriculturists. Names, it is true, must be given to 
everything; but the old fashion of giving names that are 
intended to be intelligible only to a certain class, is a system 
that is behind the progress of our time. If learned men now, 



72 SCHOOLS OF CINCINNATI. 

as in ancient times, held communication only with each othefj 
this course would be well enough. But if learning and science 
are to be made attractive to practical men, so as to bring their 
influence to bear most effectively on the well-being of society, 
there must be as few hard words used in giving the knowledge 
they convey as possible. 

The Germans are in advance of us in this respect, and 
although their long compound words look formidable, they 
generally condense some intelligence that facilitates a knowl- 
edge of the nature of some of the qualities of the things to 
which they belong. In all the natural sciences, particularly in 
botany, so many names are constantly required, that it is taken 
lor granted our language cannot supply them. But in the 
system of nomenclature that has been adopted by men of 
science, it is manifest that the convenience of the learned, in 
giving the names, was more regarded than the communication 
of knowledge to the learners. Our own language could be 
made more useful in giving new names to things than it has 
been. The reason for using Greek and Latin terms for names 
so exclusively, has been that men of learning in all countries 
could understand them; and this would be sufficient, if now, as 
in ancient times, none but men of learning were required to 
understand them. But if the natural sciences are to be made 
practically useful, if we would teach the working classes what 
they ought to know about them, we ought to teach them more 
rationally and less learnedly. When the working classes wish 
to know — and still more, when they intend to do — what the 
learned teach, the}^ ought to be able to understand with as little 
labor as possible, not only why things should be done, but why 
in this or that manner or form. 

The irksomeness of agricultural labor does not arise so much 
from fatigue of body, as from vacuity of mind. A man who 
does his work like a machine, with no more thought about it 
than one, is easily wearied. A man on the tread-mill finds it 
one of the severest punishments to be obliged to be constantly 
raising and setting down his feet without having his mind 
exercised thereby ; but a naturalist, in pursuit of desired sped- 



farmers' COLLEGE. 75 



mens, or in search of sonie novelty, would take as many and 
as laborious steps, not only without disgust, but with positive 
enjoyment. His labor and his rest would both be pleasures. 
If a farmer's mind is stored with scientific knowledge which he 
can verify, or increase, or correct, or apply in any way ; his 
labor, in its progress, will be as pleasing as the researches of 
the naturalist, and will always strengthen his health of body 
and mind. 

Another difficulty in the way of the education of farmers, 
has been the idea that a system of instruction must be estab- 
lished in all seminaries, and all the pupils go through the same 
course. 

In learning the rudiments of knowledge, all must, indeed, 
learn the same letters and the same words, because they are 
the tools by which everything must be fashioned. But if we 
would make men as useful as they are capable of being made, 
they must have more freedom of choice than that of being 
obliged to follow a vocation, like the Hindoos or Chinese, for 
which their inclination is not allowed to govern : or to follow, in 
their education, a course of study that their taste will not lead 
them to make practically useful in the pursuits of life. 

In the United States we have discarded many of the old 
stereotyped notions of our ancestors in relation to education, 
and there can be no doubt that the proverbial inventiveness of 
our people is increased by every increase of freedom in edu- 
cation. 

This freedom may indeed be carried too far; civil freedom 
may be made licentiousness, and educational freedom may be 
made to justify ignorance. That it may not bring this evil 
along with it, requires more thought on the part of teachers, 
and more labor at first. But the more pupils can be made to 
think, the lighter the labors of the teacher; if he can see the 
understanding of the pupil keep in advance of his lessons, he is 
relieved of the most difficult of his labors. 

Almost every man feels a desire to become, at some period of 
his life, an agriculturist. The sailor, the merchant, the mechanic, 
and almost every other man looks forward to the time when he 

10 



74 SCHOOLS OF CINCINNATI. 

will be able to retire to a farm, or at least to have a piece of 
ground to cultivate. A proof that agricultural pursuits are so 
conformable to our nature, that if properly understood and 
judiciously pursued, they will be the most Ukely to promote our 
happiness. 

It is somewhat extraordinary, that an institution so often 
spoken of as a desideratum in our older states, should — like 
our Astronomical Observatory — have been left to be founded iri 
the vicinity of this city of the wilderness, as it has been con^ 
sidered, almost^till the present time. Its success, and the pro- 
gress of Carey's Academy onward to the Farmer's College, is 
an exemplification, among many others, of the progress of im- 
provement in the West — a progress which, if it looks to older 
States for models in the commencement, is not satisfied to stop 
at the point where they are, but goes onward as long and as 
far as utility requires, — and it continues to go on, and passes 
by others, if they are not carried forward by industry and energy 
befitting the cause that called them forth. 

This institution, established at College Hill — one of those 
beautiful hills that surround Cincinnati, and which, like the 
mounds of our predecessors of a remote antiquity that seem 
to imitate them, are monuments — not like them of the dead, de- 
cayed and forgotten, but in their present high state of cultiva- 
tion, of the life- aiding loveliness of Agricultural and Horticul- 
tural sciences and art, when brought into legitimate operation. 

The Academy flourished for several years under its original 
title, receiving in its progress, like the country around it, con- 
tinual improvements. And not the least of these improvements, 
is that which is operating through its influences on the minds of 
the agriculturists in favor of a better and more extensive edu- 
cation for their sons. 

The original founder of this institution, F. G. Carey, com- 
menced in 1833 the establishment known as Carey's Academy, 
and its progress has been onward to the present day, without 
any of the interruptions which have disturbed the course of 
most of our other institutions. The charter for the Farmers' 
College was granted in 1846, with all the powers usually con- 



farmers' COLLEGE. 75 

ferred on such institutions, and an endowment has been ob- 
tained by voluntary donations for that purpose, amounting in 
buildings, grounds, &c., to upwards of $130,000. Its faculty 
includes Professorships of mental and moral science, rhetoric, 
and institutes of civil law, of history and political economy, of 
mathematics, natural philosophy and astronomy, of ancient 
languages and literature, of the natural sciences with their ap- 
plication to agriculture and the arts, of modern languages and 
literature, and of Botany and vegetable physiology, with a prin- 
cipal in the preparatory department who is adjunct professor of 
Mathematics, a principal (Mr. Carey) of the farm department, 
and professor of scientific and practical agriculture and horti- 
culture, with an actuary of the farm department and teacher 
of landscape gardening. These, with two tutors, constitute a 
powerful faculty: the curriculum is extensive, embracing two 
courses, one termed the classical, which does not differ from the 
curriculum of our colleges generally, and the other termed the 
scientific course, which omits the ancient, and includes the 
modern languages, with the sciences and practical agriculture, 
&c. The pupils have the option of chosing either of those, 
and being entitled to a degree ; or they may adopt the studies 
included in both, or in a part of each course, according as their 
tastes may lead or their future vocations require. 

A commercial, and a law, department are intended to be 
added in the progress of the institution ; and a botanical gar- 
den is to be among the earliest additions to the present pro- 
visions for the scientific agriculturist. 

The exceedingly beautiful and healthful site of this institu- 
tion must, with its improved system of study, give it such attrac- 
tions as cannot be resisted, and make it one of the most dis- 
tinguished seats of education in our country; and the model 
and experimental farm will make it the most useful, if properly 
managed, to the most numerous class of our citizens. The 
healthfulness of a site for such an institution is an indispensable 
requisite ; and in this respect it cannot be excelled. Its latitude 
being in that part of our portion of the temperate zone, equi- 
distant from the enervating heats of the South, and the cold 
consumptive blasts of the North, must be the most favorable in 



76 SCHOOLS OF CINCINNATI. 

this respect, and its elevation (about 500 feet above the Ohio, six 
miles distant) raises it above any evil influences that might arise 
from low ground or stagnant waters, from which last it is pre- 
served by the hilly nature of the country. 

An institution like this, so long a desideratum in our country, 
— and in the world, — must flourish, and every addition requi- 
site to make it what it ought to be, must be made. Its 
success will be honorable to our country. If it should not 
succeed, there will be a heavy burden of disgrace to be borne 
by its managers, by our state, or the community generally. 

The success of this institution will undoubtedly lead to the 
establishment of similar ones in other States, and in other parts 
of our own State; and such improvements will be made as ex- 
perience shall show to be expedient and practicable. And 
when the great body of our agriculturists are well educated, 
then, and not till then, will our freedom, and our republican 
institutions, be established on a foundation that cannot be 
moved. 

In the eloquent inaugural address of President Allen, of the 
Farmers' College, many important facts are given which are 
entitled to the attention of all our agriculturists. We quote 
the following as worthy of their special consideration : 

" From the Report on Agriculture issued by the U. S. Patent 
Ofiice, 1849-50, we learn that in the State of New York the^e 
are twelve millions acres of improved land. Of this, one mil- 
lion are so cultivated as to yield abundant harvests, and yet to 
become richer from year to year ; and are in the hands of 
40,000 owners, who, by study, reading, and experiment, make 
themselves conversant with agricultural science. Three millions 
of acres, (continues the Report,) are so ^managed as to barely 
hold their own in point of fertility ; and these three millions are 
in the hands of persons who are anxious, but, lacking early 
education, are unable, to pursue agriculture scientifically, only 
as they can gather from observation, and by seeing how others, 
more intelligent than themselves, are improving their stock and 
estates. "While the remaining eight millions of acres are in 
the hands of three hundred thousand persons, who still persist in 
the semi-barbarous practice of extracting from the virgin soil 



farmers' COLLEGE. 77 

all it will yield, so loug as its jdeld will pay expenses ; and then 
leave it in an impoverished and unprofitable condition. 

" Certainly, to call such a course of procedure Agriculture, is 
an abuse of language and a perversion of truth : it is waste, 
and not '■^culture.'''' And the estimate on this subject, officially 
reported to the Patent Office, declares that ''one thousand millions 
of dollars would not more than restore to their original fertility the 
one hundred millions acres of lands in the United States which have 
been already subjected to this exhausting and depleting process y 

After stating that the fertile fields of our country "are held 
in trust," he adds : 

" We may not be permitted, then, to impoverish those fields, 
to make desolate those valleys and plains — in a word — not 
permitted to commit waste while in the use of our life-estate, 
against the proper claim of those to whom the reversion be- 
longs, by this prodigal and improvident use of the earth. '■'■The 
earth is the Lord's, and the fullness thereof T Man is but a tenant 
for life; and when his life-lease expires, he is morally bound, by 
contract implied, to surrender the possession of the premises he 
occupied, in as good a condition as he found them. Hence, for 
man to commit waste by ignorant and improvident husbandry, 
is to perpetrate highhanded wickedness against the Landlord, 
and to inflict a heinous wrong upon His succeeding tenantry. 
And, Posterity, as infant parties, now, by their 'next friends,' 
do, accordingly present their Petition in the Chancery of 
Science, praying for a decree of perpetual injunction against 
their ancestry, to prevent the commission of waste to their re- 
versionary interest ; and viewed in every possible relation of 
right and good conscience, we must "find that the equity of the 
case is with the Petitioners." That this improvidence of the 
present, and this catastrophe to the future may be avoided, is 
the aim of Agricultural Science. And we feel assured that, in 
every conceivable light — as to its relations to public and pri- 
vate economy ; to moral right and contingent wrong; to pre- 
sent duty and future prosperity — its importance not only justi- 
fies, but even demands the prominence we give it in our curri- 
culum of College studies." 



CHAPTER IX. 



OHIO FEMALE COLLEGE. 

Upon the same beautiful hill on which is situated the Farmers' 
College — a spot unsurpassed in beauty'and salubrity ^ — is situated 
the Ohio Female College, an institution the very name of which 
is an evidence of progress in the true path of improvement. 
For, even if the establishment of such an institution was noth- 
ing more than a proof of the important place assigned to fe- 
male education in the feelings and opinions of our community; 
even if it had failed to answer the expectations and require- 
ments which caused its foundation, it would still be a testimo- 
nial of that genuine philanthropy, that love of God and man 
which stimulates Christians to all those efforts for exalting hu- 
man character and human happiness, which constitute the 
peculiar characteristics of their religion. The hopeless barbar- 
ism of a community of men who do not desire educated and 
intelligent mothers for their children, is such that no stronger 
terms to express the depth of degradation could be furnished 
by language, than the mere statement of that characteristic. If 
any such come to the West, they go on beyond the bounda- 
ries of civilization, and become more inveterately savage and 
barbarous than the Aborigines themselves. The first proof 
given by those last of a desire for the blessings of civilization, 
is a wish for the education of their daughters — a desire to ele- 
vate them above the slavish condition of their sex in the sav- 
age state. And this is the true instinct of civilization. If men 
are required to advance in manners and character, if they are 
to go onward and upward, it must be through the influence of 
their mothers ; it must be by influences which, although nature 
may inspire, education must direct; and those — if any such 
there be — who do not desire for their daughters those improve- 



OHIO FEMALE COLLEGE. 79 

njents of mind and manners which will qualify them to inspire 
pure sentiments and correct habits in their children, are not fit to 
live in a land of freedom. But the Ohio Female College has not 
failed to answer the expectations and requirements of its found- 
ers. It has, indeed, been subjected to some heavy casualities; its 
first building was destroyed by fire, and some other discouraging 
circumstances have occurred ; but this has not checked the pro- 
gress of the institution. A new College building, more spa- 
cious and more beautiful, occupies the site of the former, and 
such improvements are made in giving to its rooms due venti- 
lation, and all the other guards of the health of the pupils that 
architecture can influence, that it is expecetd to be " a model 
for imitation." The new building is one hundred and forty-live 
feet by fifty, and three stories above the basement, divided into 
ninety-two rooms and seventy-six closets. Besides this, there 
is a chapel, a music-hall, and four dwelling-houses, with thirty- 
six rooms, for self boarders. The grounds comprise an area of 
fifteen acres of beautifully diversified surface. 

The course of study embraces all the branches of female ed- 
ucation usually taught in our highest class seminaries, and they 
are adapted for two periods, one of two, and one of four years ; 
and diplomas are granted for each. 

In the records of the proceedings of the College of Teachers, 
is seen the deep interest taken in the subject of female educa- 
tion, and the general feeling of the community in relation to it. 
And this is no transient, sudden excitement, but an original 
feeling, deep seated in the very foundations of our social insti- 
tutions. This is our safeguard from the dangers of those abuses 
of freedom that lead to anarchy, which must always terminate 
in despotism. As long as we require for our daughters as high 
a standard of education as our sons, we are safe. We cannot 
go backward, but must necessarily make continual progress in 
the true course of Christian civilization. 

Whether improvements in our systems of female education 
may not be desirable, we shall not at this time enquire, having 
a perfect conviction that there are watchmen on our walls, 
whose vigilance will not slumber, and who will notice all errors. 



80 SCHOOLS OF CINCINNATI. 

and suggest all the improvements, in the plans now adopted that 
may be necessary. 

In the Ohio Female College, besides the two preparatory 
years, there is a course of four years, — termed the janitor, the 
templar, the junior, and the senior years, and in addition to these, 
is a superadded classical course of two years. The graduates 
at the end of the term of four years, are entitled to the honors of 
the first degree, Gradus primus in Artibus Baccalaureata. Those 
of the second course are entitled to the honors of the second 
degree, Gradus Secundus Literatum, Corono-laureata. 

It will, probably, be the general opinion, that so long a pe- 
riod as the whole eight years, provided for in the above course, 
will be too great a devotion of time to the education of girls, 
whose earlier maturity of mind, and general superiority in 
quickness of apprehension to those of boys, has always been 
considered as exempting them from so long periods of study as 
are required for boys. It is probable, however, that this long 
period will be occupied only by such as prepare themselves for 
the profession of teachers, and a small number whose scholarly 
propensities may lead them to take more delight in their sudies 
than in the ordinary intercourse of society. The advantages 
of being able to choose the period that the pupil will devote to 
her studies, and the power to choose such as accord best with 
her taste, are such as pupils, particularly female pupils, ought 
always to enjoy. 

This College may be considered a Normal School, and the 
education of female teachers as one of the very important 
advantages of its establishment in this central portion of the 
United States, from whence the rays of light may bediffused 
in every direction with equal facility. The progress it is making 
must render it one of those institutions to which Ohio will be 
proud to see its name appended, and constitute one of those 
legitimate sources of State pride which every State ought to 
possess, and the want of which causes the citizens of some of 
our States to glory in their shame — a characteristic exhibited by 
one of our statesmen, not long since, who felt proud to repre- 
sent a district in which there was no newspaper published, and 
no common schools. 



CHAPTER X. 



OHIO MECHANICS' INSTITUTE. 

The Ohio Mechanics' Institute was founded in 1828, Its 
chief object — although other objects appeared more prominent, 
and have since become still more so — was to aid in removing 
the evils of popular ignorance. Its founders intended to pro- 
vide the means of acquiring a knowledge of any or all of the 
sciences and arts, for all those whose tastes should lead them 
to cultivate a more extensive field of knowledge than is 
afforded by our common schools. They considered that, to 
ensure the permanent prosperity of our country, the poor 
should be as well educated as the rich, and thus remedy, as far 
as practicable, the evils that arise from the influence of the (so 
called) educated men. 

It is probable that nine-tenths of the members of our Con- 
gress are considered men of liberal education, and have diplo- 
mas authorizing them to attach A. B. or A. M. to their names ; 
but it is also probable that a great proportion of them while 
they were acquiring knowledge of Greek and Latin, were 
acquiring so much ignorance of everything else, and especially 
of their own capacities and talents, as to suppose themselves 
fit for legislators. Unfortunately, too, they find among voters 
a majority of men as ignorant as themselves, and the conse- 
quence is, the disgrace which our country suffers through the 
display of their ignorance. 

We have in Congress some two or three hundred members, 
who must be supposed to be among the most popular men in 
our country, a majority of whom are so ignorant that, in spite 
of the best efforts of the few among them who understand 
their business, the work of less than a month has sometimes 
occupied^them two-thirds of a year. If the operatives in any 
11 



82 SCHOOLS OF CINCINNATI. 

of our large manufacturing establishments should display an 
equal degree of ignorance of their business, they would soon 
ruin the owners, unless they possessed unbounded capital. 
And although this country possesses a greater capital in land, 
in enterprise, and in industrial skill than any nation ever 
before possessed, it is still possible for ignorant rulers to '* run 
through" it all, and leave us, like other ruined spendthrifts, in 
a worse situation than those who have never possessed these 
advantages. 

It may, perhaps, be said, that we cannot remedy the igno- 
rance of our legislators by educating our operatives, but this is 
a mistake. Our representatives represent the farmers and 
mechanics of our country, and the amount and kind of knowl- 
edge possessed by the latter will govern their choice of the 
former. We ought not, indeed, to expect our servants to be as 
intelligent as their masters, but there are not many servants or 
hirelings who require eight months in which to do the work of 
one, as our National Legislature do, and if there were such, 
they would seldom find employment. In the ordinary affairs 
of life we employ men who are qualified to do our work, in 
preference to those who know nothing about it, and one of the 
lessons which we shall learn by being better educated will be 
to adopt the same course in our extraordinary affairs — in choos- 
ing our legislators, our physicians and our teachers. 

Our colleges and higher seminaries of learning are, and have 
been, declining in public estimation, for various reasons, one of 
the most important is, that all the pupils in them are required 
to go on with the same studies during the same period of time, 
and all to learn an equal amount in that time, being thereby 
presumed all to possess the same tastes, the same talents, and 
to have the same destiny. The error of such a course is mani- 
fest at a glance to every one, and yet it is continued from 
generation to generation, and the improvements of the age 
which pervade everything else are carefully excluded from our 
higher seminaries of learning. 

A man is educated by learning what he desires to learn and 
wishes to investigate thoroughly, in order to make a practical 



OHIO mechanics' institute. 83 

use of it, but not by going through a prescribed course of study 
without any object that commends itself to his understanding 
as worthy the time and labor required by such course. It is, 
therefore, necessary that young men when acquiring their 
educations, or rather when they are acquiring those aids to 
education which are taught at the schools, should have the 
opportunity of bestowing their attention upon those subjects 
from which they feel that they can derive the greatest profit. 
We do not want, in these United States, to educate men to be 
machines (as if they were to be the subjects of Russia or 
Austria,) but to have them capable of making machines with 
which to speed the progress of human improvement through 
the proper cultivation and use of the powers of mind and body 
bestowed upon them by their Creator. Human machines are 
only fit for soldiers or slaves; of the former it is to be hoped 
we have already enough, and of the latter we have more than 
enough. Human machines are much more dangerous than 
those made of wood or iron ; for dreadful as are the effects of 
the explosion of steam boilers and collisions of railway cars, 
they are trifling compared with such human explosions and 
collisions as have been exhibited in France and St, Domingo. 
Of these we can avoid the danger by educating all our poor; 
of those we shall reduce the number by educating men in con- 
formity to the bent of their natural talents and dispositions, 
whereby those who are best qualified to construct machines 
will be so improved in their mental skill as to be able to pro- 
vide the necessary guards against the accidents to which all 
machinery is liable. 

Under the influence of such sentiments the Institute was 
established in 1828. A resolution of the citizens was passed 
at a public meeting, appointing a committee to prepare a plan 
and a constitution. This committee reported to a subsequent 
meeting such a plan, with a constitution and an address, which 
were adopted. 

An act of incorporation was granted by the Legislature, and 
an organization immediately made. Dr. John D. Craig, who 
had been an eminent teacher of natural philosophy in Phila- 



84 SCHOOLS OF CINCINNATI. 

delphia, was appointed President, and commenced, in the old 
college building, a course of lectures on the mathematical and 
physical sciences ; and lectures on various subjects were regu- 
larly delivered by volunteer lecturers 

It was soon, however, discovered that funds were wanting, 
and the sources of supply ^were not sufficient to support the 
institution. Various modes of obtaining indirect contributions 
from the citizens were proposed, and among them, a public 
ball seemed to meet the most favor, and was adopted. It was 
to be a mass meeting of the lovers of amusement, with all who 
were willing to make a small indirect contribution to the suc- 
cess of a valuable institution — a meeting in which the various 
classes of society could mingle, with that kindliness of feeling 
which it is one of the objects of innocent amusement to 
excite, and under circumstances in which nothing but pleasing 
excitement, without any evil passions should prevail. And 
such was its character. To obtain a floor sufficiently exten- 
sive, the theatre was taken, and the pit floored over and con- 
nected with the stage ; the boxes were appropriated to those 
who desired only to enjoy the sight of a splendid pageant; with 
a great assemblage of happy and beautiful faces and forms, 
and to show that they felt an interest in the objects intended to 
be promoted; namely, the endowment of an excellent institu- 
tion and the bringing together, under favorable circumstances 
for exciting friendly and kindly feelings, of those different 
classes of society whose avocations have a tendency to widen 
distinctions. The pecuniary result was a sum of upwards of 
three thousand dollars net to the Institute. Its first want — 
that of a building — was then supplied by the purchase of the 
Bazaar, a building erected by the notorious Mrs. Trollope, 
one of those English reformers, who, out of pity for the igno- 
rance and barbarism of the Americans, condescend to visit us 
for the purpose of teaching what are our duties and what our 
interests. 

She came first with Miss Wright, whose object was to teach 
our duties, but separated from her when she attempted to make 
young negroes into modern philosophers in Tennessee, and 



OHIO mechanics' institute. 85 

came to Cincinnati to teach us, by example, our pecuniary 
interests. The career of each of these ladies terminated as 
those of our European reformers, and teachers of new forms 
of philosophy and religion usually do. The Bazaar was taken 
by the creditors — the builders who had not been paid — and sold 
to the Institute for ten thousand dollars, of which the above 
three thousand dollars made the first payment, and the balance 
was secured by mortgage. 

This building was sufficiently large for the purposes of the 
Institute for several years, furnishing two spacious halls, with 
rooms for library, for the Academy of Natural Sciences, and 
for other purposes, with sufficient accommodations for the 
family of Dr. Craig, and afterwards of Dr. Locke, who suc- 
ceeded him. 

These gentlemen, during the occupation of the building by 
the Institute, delivered valuable courses of lectures on natural 
philosophy, for the illustration of which the valuable apparatus 
of Dr. Craig was used to elucidate and give interest to his 
teachings. This apparatus, when Dr. Craig left the Institute, 
was purchased by the late Jeptha D. Garrard, and presented to 
the Institute, and is still seen and used (with many additions) 
in the apparatus room of the new building. During Dr. 
Locke's administration, besides his regular courses of lectures, 
many valuable volunteer lectures were given, several classes 
for mutual instruction in the sciences and arts were estab- 
lished, together with one for architectural and mechanical 
drawing — to which the circular room on the top of the building 
was devoted^ — which were well attended. 

Many pupils who have since become distinguished members 
of society in different vocations received, in these classes and 
from these lectures, the impulses which made them afterwards 
eminent. The late Rev. Mr. Gassaway, of St. Louis, whose 
untimely death removed from among us one whose virtues and 
talents had given us the highest hopes of his future usefulness, 
informed the writer that he was indebted to the Institute for the 
most valuable part of his education — for the stimulus to the 
acquisition of useful knowledge. 



86 SCHOOLS OF CINCINNATI. 

Dr. Locke's chemical lectures were made so peculiarly 
interesting that it was as difficult to persuade his class to dis- 
perse (teacher and pupils being alike excited and interested) 
at a reasonable hour, as to make pleasure-lovers at parties 
and balls do the same. Unfortunately, the health of some of 
them suffered from their excessive zeal in pursuit of knowledge, 
but they thereby served to enforce a lesson which now appears 
necessary for all mankind to learn, and which is becoming more 
and more so — namely, that ultraism, even in a good cause, 
which carries men beyond the bounds of prudence and good 
sense, is very apt to lead to destructive errors. 

But the radical defect, the want of an endowment for the in- 
stitution, was increased by the disposition to incur increased 
expenses caused by the feeling of success, and debts increased 
faster than funds for their payment. A heavy weight was on 
this institution, which discouraged many of its friends, and 
made them willing to abandon it. For some time, it appeared 
to be declining, the stimulants which had kept it up had lost 
their effect — the languor which in such cases is generally ex- 
perienced, supervened, and the discouragement was so deeply 
felt that a committee, consisting of George Graham and John P. 
Foote, was appointed to enquire whether the prospects were 
60 hopeless that it would be best to abandon the Institute to its 
fate, or to make a new effort for its re-establishment. This 
committee made a report strongly recommending the latter 
course ; as so valuable an institution, which had already done 
so much good, and was capable of continuing to do more, could 
not be suffered to decline and die without disgrace to the city, 
and being a precursor of its own decline. A subscription in its 
behalf was immediately set on foot, and it was found that so 
many public spirited citizens were ready to give their pecuniary 
aid, that the spirits of its friends revived. 

As its first want was a suitable building, constructed specially 
for its purposes, it was determined that as soon as the subscrip- 
tions should amount to ten thousand dollars, a building should be 
commenced. This was soon exceeded, by the showing of the 
subscription books. Miles Greenwood, whose characteristic 



OHIO mechanics' institute. 87 

energy was to be relied on to carry out the undertaking, was 
elected President of the Board of Directors, and, with their con- 
currence, the present beautiful hall of the Institute was begun 
and completed, at an expense of more than forty thousand 
dollars, besides the price of the ground — leaving a heavy debt 
to be liquidated. Of this, seventeen thousand was due to the 
President, and five thousand to Marston Allen. Each of these 
gentlemen proposed to relinquish his claim, in full, provided the 
other debts of the institution, amounting to as much more, should 
be paid before a specified date.* So liberal a proposition it 
was impossible for the city to disgrace itself by declining to 
meet, and the building is now unincumbered. It has a front 
of ninety feet on Vine street, and sixty on Sixth street, covering 
five thousand four hundred square feet of ground. A part of 
the lower story is rented for stores, and a revenue is derived 
from one of its halls. 

In the course of the progress of the Institute, the plan of its 
operations has been somewhat modified — the two high schools 
of the city supplying, in some measure, the wants which called 
for its establishment. 

Its library and reading-room, which are next in value and 
importance to those of the " Young Men's Mercantile Library 
Association," — which we hope will not remain next — are spa- 
cious and convenient, affording mental aliment to those who 
feel an appetite for such nourishment as may enable them to 
direct their bodily labors to the most useful ends. Its annual 
exhibitions are constantly giving proof of the increase of me- 
chanical skill, taste and talents in our city, to which it has 
largely contributed, and which now constitute an element in 
our civic prosperity of great value, in enabling us to continue 
our progress toward perfection in the arts, and to maintain the 
proud title assumed for our city, as the Queen of the West. 

The Institute has now so large a list of members who con- 



*Greenwood had already given to the'Institute the whole amount of his salary as 
Chief Engineer of the Fire Department, which laborious oliice he had filled several 
years, with great benefit to the public. 



SCHOOLS OF CINCINNATI. 



tribute to its income — which is increased by rents and proceeds 
of exhibitions — that hereafter, we trust, its career of usefulness 
will not be impeded by pecuniary embarrassments, but that, on 
the contrary, its increase in usefulness will be on a scale cor- 
responding with that of the general increase of the Great West. 

In the early times of the institution, the opinion seemed to 
be so prevalent that exhibitions were its chief object, that the 
Directors, in their address, at the close of the third annual fair, 
made the following remarks : 

" The primary object of this institution is not merely to pro- 
mote the progress of the arts by a system of direct encourage- 
ment — by bringing meritorious artisans and artists into notice 
through the means and opportunities afforded them of dis- 
playing their skill, and comparing their works with the works 
of others, and submitting them to the examination of qualified 
judges, and thus hastening the progress toward perfection of 
the arts of civilized life. This is indeed one, and a very im- 
portant one, of its objects. But its principal aim is to afford to 
the young men of our city, who are precluded by poverty or 
their employments, from acquiring an education in our highest 
seminaries of learning, the means of gaining a knowledge of 
all the sciences which are taught in those seminaries ; or of 
such of them as their vocations may require, or as their genius 
or their tastes may lead them to cultivate." 

And in their first address for inviting Artisans, Mechanics 
and Artists, to contribute to make the then proposed fair as 
respectable as possible, they say : 

" The Ohio Mechanics' Institute was originally designed to 
advance more immediately the true interests of that portion 
of the community, whose name it so distinctly bears. It 
was deemed a matter of the first importance, that a class 
of citizens so numerous, useful, and indispensable, as that to 
whom this appeal is made, should every where be so instructed 
as to qualify them for sustaining a high and respectable posi- 
tion in society ; and it was believed that such an institution 
might be eminently useful in attaining that end. In accordance 
with this view of the subject, the Institution was] established ; 



OHIO mechanic's institute. 89 

but its foundation was laid sufficiently broad to embrace vari- 
ous other important interests, some of which have already been 
attended with results extensively useful. Several courses of 
Lectures, well attended, have been given in this institution^ on 
Natural Philosophy, the principles of which have been fully 
demonstrated by the aid of a Philosophical Apparatus (a dona- 
tion to the Institute by the late Jeptha D. Garrard), and which 
is probably more extensive and perfect than any other in the 
western country. The Institute is also in possession of a valu- 
able Library, which has been used with great advantage, espe- 
cially by apprentices and young mechanics. Thus it may be 
seen, that while this Institution is peculiarly well calculated to im- 
prove the condition of mechanics and artisans, it is also adapted 
to extend a beneficial influence to every other class of citizens. 

Mechanics and artisans must always compose a very large 
proportion of the population of every community. In all things, 
therefore, pertaining to the preservation of their dearest rights, 
to the security of person and property, they should be seen to 
exercise a salutary influence, corresponding with their number ; 
but this can never be the case, unless they are prepared for it 
by a proper cultivation of mind. For all distinguished worth 
in the man, or success in the arts, depends upon intellectual 
advancement. Surely then, it is an imperative duty which 
they owe to themselves, and all others with whom they are as- 
sociated, to use every means within their control for the accom- 
plishment of that important object. 

The first annual exhibition, or fair, was held on the 30th and 
31st May and 1st June, 1838, and much of the mechanical skill 
and talent of our city was there represented, but not by any 
means as much as would have been, had those whose more im- 
mediate interest it was to promote its attractions exhibited as 
deep an interest in it as they have at the late exhibitions. To 
excite and keep alive this feeling has required much time, labor, 
and perseverance. 

The vis inertia of some, the jealousy of others, and the reck- 
less thoughtlessness of others, of any thing beyond the present 
moment, had their influence ; but it was not so great as to dis- 

12 



00 BCflOOLS OF CINCINNATI. 

courage the friends of the Institute from greater efforts for the 
improvement of subsequent exhibitions." 

A disposition on the part of many ambitious and promising 
young men to rise out of tlie class of artizans instead of rising 
in it, was also remarked at that time, but it is believed that since 
then, juster views of the relative dignity of different avocations 
and pursuits have prevailed, to which prevalence, a portion of 
the influences that have raised the institute may be attributed. 
At the second annual fair, in 1839, the committee of arrange- 
ments found it necessary to urge again the consideration of the 
artisans and manufacturers to their own interests ; they say : 

" The annual exhibition is designed to bring into favorable 
notice, the actual manufactures of the country, especially those 
of the West. It appears that this has not generally been un- 
derstood among the mechanics ! Not one third of the manu- 
factures of the city have yet been represented at the Fair, in 
consequence, it is believed, of the want of correct information 
in relation to the design of the Institute. 

"The fair is designed to bring together the manufacturers 
and make them acquainted with each other, to exhibit the dif- 
ferent styles of work, side by side, where they can be compared 
and contrasted, and where the whole people can have an oppor- 
tunity of forming an estimate of the skill and enterprise, and 
resources of the community in which they live. Here, too^ 
young artizans are brought forward and stimulated to redoubled 
exertion for their own improvement, and the advancement of 
their pursuits. Cincinnati contains a fair proportion of the 
most skillful workmen of the United States and Europe. We 
have, therefore, the advantage, not only of our own native 
talents, but those of nearly the whole world. We can, there- 
fore, compete with any country, in the manufacture of all that 
our soil, and rivers, and mountains afford." 

At the third exhibition, in 1840, the members experienced an 
unexpected gratification, which is thus referred to in the address 
of the Directors : 

" The Hall of the Institute occupies the site on which Fort 
Washington was built in 1789, to defend the first settlers of this 



OHIO mechanic's institute. 91 

country against the Indians. Gen. Solomon Van Rensselaer, 
who had been stationed at that fort in 1792, being in this city 
on a visit to his former commander and early friend, General 
Harrison, was, with him, invited to attend the exhibition of the 
fair. The directors were desirous to improve the opportunity 
which this exhibition afforded of displaying the proofs of the 
rapid progress of the arts in the west to those whose youthful 
energies were devoted to the rescue of these fertile regions from 
the dominion of those savage barbarians whose occupation of 
them was incompatible with any improvement in the social 
condition of their inhabitants; or of the introduction of the arts 
which benefit, or the sciences which enlighten, mankind. They 
were aware that the best reward the patriot soldier can receive, 
is that of witnessing the blessings which his labors, privations, 
and sufferings have contributed, through the blessing of Provi- 
dence, to procure for his country. Gen. Van Rensselaer ex- 
pressed the highest gratification in being enabled, after an ab- 
sence of so large a portion of his life, from the scenes of the 
toils and dangers of his early years, to witness the marks of the 
rapid progress of civilization and refinement in the country 
which he remembered as the hunting ground of the savage. 
It was a pleasing circumstance, in the decline of life, to be re- 
cognized as one of the early benefactors of this fair and fertile 
land." 

" And the friends and supporters of the Institute, in contribu- 
ting their efforts for the improvement of the rising generation 
in the knowledge of the principles upon which their pursuits 
are founded, and of the sciences generally which are necessary 
to their progress in usefulness, may enjoy the reward of the 
consciousness that they too are the benefactors of their country 
and of mankind." 

The exhibitions were continued regularly for several years, 
and were then discontinued occasionally. They were, however, 
revived, and a new impulse was given when the new hall was 
made capable of affording the necessary accommodations. 
And of each of the displays made there it was generally said 
— as we hope it will always continue to be said — -"the last was 
the best." 



CHAPTER XI, 



SCHOOLS FOR COLORED PUPILS. 

The colored citizens of Cincinnati are, as a general charac' 
teristic, superior to the freedmen of most other towns, as well in 
our own country as in all other countries where they have ob' 
tained their freedom, and then been left to make their way to- 
wards respectability against such powerful prejudices as exist 
in relation to them in the white races, those especially of our 
free States. 

Not only do the reports of their enemies tend to keep up this 
prejudice, but so also do those of their friends, as given in va^ 
rious publications, from which the author of " Cotton is King " 
gives extracts of sufficient significance to excite anxious solic- 
itude on the part of the real friends of the colored race. 

Their nnmber in this city, according to the last census, was 
three thousand one hundred and seventy-two ; and they have 
six churches, two of the Regular and one of the Campbellite 
Baptists, and three of the Methodist, denominations. These 
churches are small, but they are so well attended as to justify 
the attribute of superiority in general character, which we as- 
sign to their founders. They gave another proof of this supe- 
riority in the establishment of a library and reading-room, which, 
although unsuccessful from the circumstance of its being attempt- 
ed on a scale too expensive for a first attempt of the kind, was 
honorable to them as a display of a proper sense of one of the 
first and most important wants of their class — viz., knowledge — 
and of the imperative duty of adopting measures for its relief. 

Since the failure of this establishment — which, we believe, 
was the first of the kind established by and for the colored race 
— their attention has been directed to the formation of a, 



SCHOOLS FOR COLORED PUPILS. 93 



library for their schools, and we trust it will be successful and 
give proof of that progress among freedmen which is absolutely 
necessary to render freedom a blessing. 

Emancipation is no boon to the ignorant, idle, and conse- 
quently vicious, who are content to remain ignorant and idle; and 
the first duty v/hich the colored race owe to themselves, and 
which philanthropists owe to them, is, to endeavor to inspire a 
desire for, and to furnish the means of, acquiring a knowledge 
of the duties, and of the increase of the number of those du- 
ties, which are imposed on them by their emancipation ; for, 
without a proper sense of these, freedom will become merely 
lawlessness. 

Four schools for colored children exclusively, have been es- 
tablished by our School Board, and the system of instruction 
is the same as in the other schools. The attendance of the pu- 
pils, their demeanor, and their progress, is as good as could be 
expected. 

l?ut we do not claim for them a general equality with the 
white race, as some of their injudicious Iriends do, for this would 
constitute a much higher eulogium on the system of slavery 
than even John C. Calhoun, or any of the most zealous pro- 
slavery advocates have ever claimed for it, since the proof of 
such an equality would be also proof that Anierican slavery is 
a more potent means of elevating and improving a degraded 
race, than any other method ever adopted. For the slavery of 
the blacks did not originate here, but in their native country, 
and all history shows that the debasing effects of slavery on the 
mind and morals cannot be immediately thrown off with the 
chains by which they were caused and fostered ; and among all 
the boasts of our country's superiority, we doubt whether any 
one has ever been found so extravagant as the attempt to prove 
that the laws of nature have been suspended in favor of Amer- 
ican slaves, would indicate. J\o revelation of history gives a 
right to expect that the first generation of emancipated slaves 
can be the equals of those who have inherited not only free- 
dom, but such a love of it, as would inspire a readiness to sac- 
rifice everything — even life itself if necessary — for its acquisi- 
tion and preservation. 



94 ecHooLS OF Cincinnati. 

The colored inhabitants of Cincinnati have shared with all 
its citizens the influence of that respect for education, and for 
the diff'usion of knowledge, which has ever been one of their 
characteristics, and they have, therefore, been more generally 
intelligent than the average of their class, and justify the supe- 
riority which we claim for them. 

The paramount duty of the friends of freedom — the opposera 
of American slavery — is, if their efforts are to be made truly 
effective, to provide for the instruction of all those who are 
freed, in those principles, and that discipline in the practice, of 
the social virtues which can alone make freedom a blessing. 
They do no good, but great harm, by endeavoring to prove that 
the colored race is equal to the white. If a Christian teacher 
would effectually call men to repentance, he must first convince 
them that they are sinners ; if he should begin by flattering 
them with the assumption that they are as good as their neigh- 
bors, his success would be small. If a teacher desires his pupils 
to learn, he must not begin by telling them that they know as 
much as those who have been taught. 

The duty of preparing slaves for a proper enjoyment of lib- 
erty in this country, is beset with so many difficulties and dis- 
couragements, as in many cases to make it quite impracticable, 
and in all so uncertain, that those who are not willing to go 
to Liberia, to acquire a knowledge of the duties of freedom, are 
not worthy of it. There they can acquire the necessary prepar- 
ation and training without being obliged to suflxir those incon- 
veniences, or be exposed to the temptations which, in the Uni- 
ted States, they cannot avoid. There they can establish a na- 
tion, and acquire a national character, with advantages never 
before possessed by liberated slaves. There they are the supe-? 
rior, not the degraded, class. There they may be truly, and 
not merely legally, free ; and there friendship, instead of con- 
tempt, will be bestowed upon them by all the nations with which 
they will have intercourse. There they enjoy the elevating 
and enobling consciousness that they are diff'using the blessr 
ings of Christianity and civilization among the degraded and 
despised nations of Africa, and elevating them to the standard 



SCHOOLS FOR COLORED PtJPlLS. 95 

of men. These advantages, which are sufficient to overbalance 
that love of their native land — which is so strong in the Negro 
race — in all who are worth}'^ of freedom, are now, for the first 
time in the history of the world, afforded to emancipated 
slaves. 

Even the chosen people — the Israelites— were required to 
pass through a period of forty years of suffering and wandering 
in the wilderness, until an entire new generation had arisen, 
which had never known and, consequently, could not regret the 
flesh pots of Egypt — the animal indulgencies and licentious 
gratification which, to slaves, are the only sources of happiness 
that they cherish. 

The Liberians are not pursued by their former masters, with 
revengeful passions, but, on the contrary, are treated with pecu- 
liar kindness. And to this they are fully entitled, for there is 
no trait of character more unquestionable in the colored race 
than their loving kindness, and their affectionate dispositions. 
They are also entitled to a return for the additions they have 
made to the wealth of their masters, and of our country. And 
this return they obtain in the bestowal upon them of a home and 
a country. The capacity to enjoy such a home and country, 
without abusing its blessings, the}" have acquired in America, 
and thus have been benefited by their transfer from Africa, 
even as slaves. But it is not, therefore, justifiable to retain 
them and their descendants forever in a state of slavery. There 
ought to be some term to its entail among a people who reject 
the doctrine of entail in everything else. 

In providing a home for their freedmen, the people of Amer- 
ica are but fulfilling a sacred duty ; for it is no boon to give free- 
dom to those who are unprepared for it, unless the gift is ac- 
companied by giving also the means of preparation for its 
proper enjoyment. Circumstances must be provided for them 
by which they can be educated in the doctrines and habits of 
freemen. 

To liberate slaves, and send them into free States, where the 
prejudices against their color are stronger than in the slave 
States, is very seldom to give them an increase of happiness. It is 



96 SCHOOLS OF CINCINNATI. 

very doubtful whether the liberated slaves of John Randolph 
have been as happy since their arrival in Ohio as they were in 
Virginia. We have known instances of colored persons in 
free States desirous to return to a state of slavery, being more 
willing to endure its evils than those to which they were sub- 
jected in New York and New England. Those who are most 
worthy of freedom would, it is true, be willing to suffer, them- 
selves, all the disagreements, annoyances, and evils of various 
kinds to which they may be subjected in the northern free 
States, for the hope of seeing their children elevated through 
the means which they obtain with freedom, of acquiring a 
knowledge of those arts and sciences by the aid of which 
the white races have obtained and preserved that superiority 
which they possess over the colored races. The hope of see- 
ing their children raised to the rank of men from that of ne* 
groes, is a stimulus which ought to make Liberia to the col- 
ored race like Canaan, to the wandering Jews, the landoi hope 
and of promise — the paramount desire of their hearts. 

In Liberia, there is every stimulus to awaken those feelings 
which are the seeds of progress in nations and individuals. Inhere 
are offices for the ambitious, wealth for the enterprising, fields 
of usefulness for the philanthropic, and for those who would ac- 
quire eminence and distinction in the arts, there are unbounded 
regions soliciting their attention. 

Liberia is one entire national high school for American freed- 
men ; and if they fail to learn the lessons taught there — if they 
fail to make it a civilized. Christian country, shedding blessings 
over the continent of Africa, they wall give stronger weight to 
pro-slavery doctrines than all that the united wisdom and learn* 
ing of South Carolina, and all the rest of the South, has been 
able to bring forward. 

Slaves cannot be made really and truly free by laws and de* 
crees. Did the decrees of the South American nations make 
their slaves really free ? Are the blacks in the English colonies 
really free ? Some of them are, perhaps, but the mass — the 
majority are not — the form of their slavery only is changed, 
and this will not be for the benefit of the existing generation, 
and whether it will be for future generations — whether they are 



SCHOOLS FOR COLORED PUPILS. 97 

to go forward in civilization, or backward like other African 
nations, which have once been civilized — depends upon the in- 
struction they receive from circumstances, and the use they 
make of them. Circumstances, when deified by Robert Owen, 
were not seen, nor proved to possess the power he ascribed to 
them, because they are not the deities he made them ; they are, 
on the contrary, slaves of the genii, who have the power to con- 
trol them ; and the Eastern fables of the slaves of the ring and 
the lamp, are the symbolic representations of the power over 
circumstances acquired by wisdom and knowledge, and repre- 
sented by the talisraanic power of Solomon. If the philanthro- 
pists of America, who devote their cares and labors to the deliver- 
ance of the slave from bondage, desire, really and truly, the hap- 
piness of the two races, the colored and the white, they must de- 
vise means for diffusing knowledge among both. Ignorance on 
the part of each race is the cause of the perpetuation of sla- 
very. Whenever the white race, in the South, become suffici- 
ently intelligent generally, that is, when intelligence is diffused 
among all classes, it will be seen that the system of slavery, as it 
exists in the United States, is as great — is a greater — curse to 
to the white race than to the black. 

If the people of the United States could become so univer- 
sally intelligent as to understand their true interest, and learn 
to estimate things by their true value, they would not seek for 
glory in war or deeds of destruction, but in those of mercy and en- 
lightened humanity. If they would make it a national object to 
provide for the extension of that home for the colored race, of 
which philanthropists have laid the foundation, and make pro- 
vision for the transportation to Liberia of all that can be sent 
from among us — all that can be transported there in a spirit of 
Christian philanthropy, under the influence of Christian feel- 
ings — of that charity which not only does no wrong, but think- 
eth no evil, — our nation would acquire a glory as much greater 
than has ever been gained by any other nation, as the blessings 
bestowed on us as a nation, have been unexampled. It would 
be an acknowledgement, and a thank-offering for our superior 
advantages over any other people that is now, or ever has been 
13 



98 SCHOOLS OF CINCINNATI* 

in existence. But if we clamor for a King — if we will not 
have this man to reign over us, if we will have no king but 
Caesar Cotton, we shall sooner or later share the fate of those 
who proclaimed a similar determination eighteen hundred years 
ago. But this object must be sought, not by violence, not by 
reproaches, by criminations and recriminations of one portion 
of the country towards the other, but in a Christian-like union 
of all the philanthropy of the North and the South, for a good 
end to be brought about by wise measures. 

Phcebus and Eolus, says the fable, agreed to test each others' 
claim to superiority in power, by trying which could soonest 
take from a traveler his cloak. Eolus began by attacking him 
rudely, and endeavoring to blow it oft" by violent blasts ; this, 
however, only made the traveler wrap it more closely around 
him, and hold on to it more pertinaciously. After the failure 
of this trial, PhoBbus began to try his power, and darted his 
warm rays gradually and imperceptibly upon and through the 
cloak, which soon became thereby so oppressive that it could 
not be borne, and the traveler voluntarily resigned it. 

" Divide and conquer," is the maxim of the spirit of evil. 
In union is strength, is that of the genius of political wisdom ; 
and these maxims are admitted to be good and true, by all, 
but are not suffered to become practical. Eolus has been 
blowing his blasts against the slave owners a long time, and 
the result has been, as in the case of the traveler in the fable. 
It is time to try the other power. 

To cling to abuses and evils, because we are accustomed to 
them, and have adapted our manners and habits to them, is to 
go on in a course, which has brought on every nation on earth, 
successively, decline and ruin ; and the slave owners must be 
made to appreciate their present evil, and to see the still greater 
one impending from their course of slave extension. 

if the people of color were, generally, as intelligent, virtuous, 
and respectable, as many of their class whom we could select 
in Cincinnati, the existing prejudice against their race would 
disappear after a while, and the remnant of them obtain equal 
rights with other citizens. But the progress of improvement 



SCHOOLS FOR COLORED PUPILS. 99 

seems to have been backward in their case. Under the old 
constitutions of North Carolina, and of New York, when it was a 
slave State, and of other slave States, a negro, who was a free 
man, had the same political rights as a white man. The demo- 
cratic principle, in respect to them, has retrograded instead of ad- 
vancing; and this has arisen from the tendency to vicious habits 
of the freedmen. But it is in vain to assume that they improve in 
morals, while in a state of slavery, by the influence of a mitigation 
of their oppressions. The slaves in that portion of North Caro- 
lina, where the insurrection of Nat. Turner, some years ago, 
produced such soul-harrowing enormities, were in more favor- 
able circumstances — were less oppressed, and more kindly 
treated — than those of any other region of our country. The 
danger of being sold and transported into Georgia, was their 
greatest evil ; but this, in most cases, was only as a punishment 
for such crimes as in the free States, cause men to be confined 
in penitentiaries. Their condition, as slaves, was as easy as 
that of slaves can be, except in extraordinary cases ; but slaves 
must necessarily be ignorant, and their crimes, in this case, 
could only have resulted from deep ignorance. Such occurren- 
ces among slaves who are in the easiest and best situations, as 
these were, seem to justify and require those stringently oppres- 
sive measures, which has given the institution its constantly in- 
creasing infamy, and excited the slave owners to seek for new 
principles of morality, and new interpretations of Christian mor- 
als for their justification, and on the part of their opponents, new 
themes of reproach, and fresh bitterness of denunciation. 

If the government of the United States would appropriate 
as many millions as a short war would require, to the gradual 
extinction of slavery within her borders, and change her system 
of increasing the area of freedom, by making new slave States, 
for the gradual expulsion of slaves from those States that could 
most easily abandon the system, and which have formerly 
shovv^n a disposition to abandon it — the States, namely, of Ma- 
ryland, Virginia, Kentucky, North Carolina, and Tennessee — 
the means of transporting such slaves as might be freed, and 
of paying for such as would be sold at low prices by those who 



100 SCHOOLS OF CINCINNATI. 

might think they could not afford to give them freedom ; and, if 
such other facilities for purging the land of the sin and mis- 
ery of slavery as could be judiciously devised, were adopted, 
and national action commenced on the subject, our progress to- 
wards its accomplishment would be sure to carry us onward to 
a glorious destiny, such as no nation has ever before attained. 
The price of cotton, it is true, might be raised by the reduction 
of slave labor, but, with the contrivances and inventions con- 
stantly in progress, this would soon cease to be felt or thought 
of; and, even if we should have to pay a little more for our 
cotton fabrics, it would not be as great au evil as a civil or a 
servile war, which must be the result of the encroachments of 
the slave power, unless some method of checking them can be 
put into practice. 

We have believed, and still cherish the hope, that the coloni- 
zation of Africa by freedmen from the United States, will consti- 
tute a more brilliant era in the history of the world than even 
our own achievement of independence, and progress as a na- 
tion. The action of the British government, in giving to the 
West India slaves their freedom, and giving them nothing else 
— giving them no knowledge respecting the true value of free- 
dom, and the modes of obtaining that value^ — was but a half 
way measure, and its results have been such as generally follow 
half-way measures. It has done very little towards increasing 
the happiness of the colored race — very little for their progress 
upward and onward, — but, on the contrary, there seems to be 
more danger of their going backward towards African barbar- 
ism than hope of their progress towards the point of European 
civilization. 

If the people of the free States could be supposed to be capa- 
ble of opposing such an appropriation of the public funds as we 
have suggested, it would be a supposition that their exertions 
for the extinction of slavery in our country were not intended 
for public good, but for factious discord. 

Whatever profits have been derived from slave labor, the free 
States have shared, not indeed directly, but indirectly, and 
thereby more advantageously, because they have not been sub- 



» 

SCHOOLS FOR COLORED PUPILS. 101 

ject to the evils that have attended the institution of slavery. 
They are, therefore, bound to favor the application of the pub- 
lic funds to its extinction as strongly, by duty, as those of the 
slave States. The latter will, indeed, derive eventually greater 
benefit, and experience a greater increase of prosperity from 
the measure, than the former. But the free States have so long 
gone on in advance of the others, that it is nothing more than 
ordinary brotherly kindness to stretch out a helping hand to 
those who have been impeded in their progress by not yet hav- 
ing been able to cast off all the chains and oppressions imposed 
on her American colonies by Great Britain ; of which the colo- 
nists seemed to have had a presentiment, impelling them to re- 
sist the importation of negro slaves as earnestly as possible. 

It is unfortunate for our country that men of impulse are so 
apt to be found taking the lead, where men of judgment and 
discretion are needed. On the slave question, the leaders on 
both sides have been such that we would say to them, with 
Friar Tuck, that we " respect their valor much, but deem won- 
drous slightly of their discretion." They are very bold in pub- 
lishing their notions, however crude ; and fearless in injuring 
their own reputations by advancing notions that cannot be 
supported by truth or reason. John C. Calhoun has always 
had the reputation of being a man of great strength of mind, 
of profound sagacity, and generally of unequalled metaphys- 
ical skill. But when the time shall come in which his character 
can be viewed without any bias of party prejudice, we believe it 
w^illbe said of him, that he laid aside all the higher qualities of his 
mind, and, in discussions of the slave question, took up pueril- 
ities for arguments that are ridiculous and absurd. The great- 
est portion of the leading partisans on both sides, seem more 
willing to sacrifice their reputations for sound judgment and 
discretion, than their wealth in support of, or opposition to, 
the principles of slavery. The desideratum now for our coun- 
try is, another sort of men to engage in directing public opinion, 
or, to go to the root of the matter, to have the great body — 
the majority — of the people too intelligent to be led by the 
nose by demagogues, who have more ambition than principle, 



102 SCHOOLS OF CINCINNATI. 

or by enthusiasts, with more poetry in their heads than truth, 
or the love of it, in their hearts. Cincinnati has always had 
her share of pro-slavery and anti-slavery enthusiasts, and 
twice the town has been disgraced by mobs on their account. 
The last of these, however, was a long time ago, and is almost 
forgotten. It will, probably, continue forever to be the last. 
Our schools are too numerous, too well appointed with suitable 
instructors, and too firmly fixed in the hearts of the citizens, as 
our palladium, to allow a fear that such disgraces can ever 
again recur. 



CHAPTER XII 



SUNDAY SCHOOLS. 

" The chief project of that old deluder, Sathan," was opposed 
in New England by the invention of the common school 
system, but in Old England, where that system did not flourish, 
his project was so successful among the youthful population of 
the great cities, that it seemed as if his kingdom was more 
likely to come on earth than that for which the prayers of all 
Christians are continually addressed to our Father in Heaven. 
The evils of youthful depravity were seen to be so great and 
efficient a check to the prevalence of Christian-like manners in 
Christian communities, that the necessity of a remedy was felt 
by all philanthropists to be imperative. Some new invention 
for this purpose was a great desideratum, and it was discovered. 
The system of Sunday Schools was invented by Mr. Robert 
Raikes, and was soon found to be so useful and effective, that 
these schools are now as fully recognized a part of the arms 
from the armory of faith, as preaching and prayer. 

There was no delay in the introduction of these schools into 
our country as soon as their usefulness became apparent, and 
in the West, where the laxity of parental discipline is a 
marked characteristic, as they were peculiarly needed, they 
were immediately and generally adopted by all Christian 
denominations. In the early periods of the history of Sunday 
Schools, their importance was seen and felt to be so great, that 
all the means that could be devised to make them popular 
were adopted, and, among others, that of having processions 
on suitable occasions, and making them so imposing and 
attractive as to arrest the attention of those whose attention 
would not be arrested in any other mode, and to give a stimu- 
lus to the feelings of teachers and pupils, productive of pleasing 



104 SCHOOLS OF CINCINNATI. 

influences, and tending to keep alive that attachment to the 
institution which was requisite. 

These schools are now a portion of the means adopted by 
every denomination of Christians to effect their object, which is 
to Christianize all mankind, and thereby lessen the miseries, by 
lessening the love of vice, which "that old deluder" will instil 
into the minds of youth, if he is not kept at a distance. If this 
spear of Ithuriel is made use of, when he whispers his lies to 
the young and unoccupied minds of the future guardians of 
our civil rights and religious liberties, it will be found one of 
the most effective weapons that can be used for their defense. 

If the children of all the infidels, the skeptics, the atheists, 
and the thoughtless, could be brought under the influence of 
these schools, the moral aspect of our country would soon sur- 
pass in beauty that of all other lands, as decidedly as ouP 
Western regions surpass all others in fertility, and in varied 
forms of physical beauty. But we have — some of our own 
breeding, but chiefly imported from England and Germany. — 
reformers and pseudo philosophers among us, who desire to 
begin their reformations by the abolition of Christianity, and 
these, although they profess to oppose ignorance in the masses 
of the community, are in reality its advocates, for there must 
be some stronger stimulus to the universal diffusion of knowL 
edge than infidelity can give, to make the love of it overcome 
the vis inertia of the human mind, and save it from relapsing 
into barbarism, or into that kind of civilization that prevailed 
in Rome when four hundred innocent slaves were put to death 
at one time, under the authority of the law — not for any crime 
of their own, but for not preventing a crime of which they were 
ignorant, and consequently incapable of controlling. 

There must be some higher principle than atheism can pro- 
pose, to overcome the natural selfishness of mankind, and that 
preference of present pleasures to future happiness, which will 
always govern where it is not overcome by the influence of 
religion. 

The only incentive to a virtuous life, to actions tending to 
the promotion of general happiness, that the atheists have been 



SUNDAY SCHOOLS. 105 

able to discover, was one proposed by " walking Stewart," as 
he was called, or "the walking philosopher," who acquired 
some notoriety in England and America, half a century ago, 
and published several atheistic books. Among them was one 
addressed to Buonaparte, then in the height of his power, in 
which he exhorted him to use all his endeavors to make his 
people happy from the consideration, that as the whole human 
physical frame is entirely changed, or renewed every seven 
years, and all the atoms, said he, in his address, "that form a 
portion of your body now, as they are continually flying off, 
and uniting with all other bodies in existence, if you cause 
pain or suffering to any individual, that individual may in part 
be composed of atoms which were once a part of your own 
body, and, therefore, you are causing pain and suffering to 
yourself." 

This may, and to most people will, appear to be a mere 
manifestation of insanity. And yet this man was a man of 
exceedingly extensive information, remarkably intelligent in 
all political matters, and as lucid and instructive in conversa- 
tion on general topics as such a man, after having traveled 
in all parts of the world, seeking philosophical information, 
might be expected to be. 

His books had but a limited circulation, and did very little 
mischief; indeed they were so dry and hard that few people, 
even of his own class, could read them. In consequence of 
this, he considered them to be so much in advance of the age 
that, in the preface to '^Opus Maximum,^'' he requests that 
copies of that work may be buried or deposited in some situa- 
tion where they may be found at the end of three thousand 
years, by which time he thought the human mind might be far 
enough advanced to be profited by his instructions. His 
remedy for the evils of life, when they became too heavy, was 
to change your mode of existence by the aid of a pistol, or any 
similar assistant.* 



* Some notices of Stewart may be found in De Quincy's writings; also in another 
author, not recollected. The writer was personally acquainted, and has had many 
discussions with him. 

14 



106 SCHOOLS OF CINCINNATI. 

Such psycological manifestations of the tendency of atheism, 
are both curious and instructive. A comparison of this, the 
highest form of philosophical atheism, with the lowest form of 
practical Christianity, must constitute one of the proofs that 
the latter is preferable, as a means of promoting human happi- 
ness, to any substitute for it that philosophy or infidelity can 
devise, and consequently embraces more — and more important — 
truths. If, therefore, the diffusion of knowledge is to be made 
as profitable as possible, it must include a knowledge of the 
principles of Christianity, and this knowledge is earlier profit- 
able than any other. The establishment of Sunday schools is, 
therefore, one of the most important steps towards Christian- 
izing the world, that has been taken in modern times. 

As above remarked, our Sunday Schools constitute a portion 
of the institutions of every denomination of Christians, and 
are a marked feature among the modes of instruction in our 
city. Their influence is like " the quality of mercy," " it bless- 
eth him that gives and him that takes." The youthful teachers 
in Sunday Schools, derive as much of the benefits they confer 
as the pupils ; and the religious knowledge they obtain there 
will generally produce a permanent effect on their characters, 
of the most salutary kind; provided they discharge the duties 
they undertake with such faithfulness that they become pleasing. 

The duty of seeking in the highways and hedges for objects 
of Sunday School instruction, and compelling them, by the 
gentle influences of Christian love and kindness, to come in 
must excite and keep alive that love of the Saviour, in whose 
name, and for whose sake, the highest of all blessings — the 
knowledge of the truth of Christianity — is intended to be be- 
stowed on the ignorant and degraded, which will most rapidly 
develope the loveliest traits of character, and most securely pre- 
serve them during life. 

The literature of our Sunday Schools is the product of so 
many authors, that there is mixed among it much that belongs 
somewhere else. There is a great deal of zeal without knowl- 
edge in the minds of many, which is apt to lead very pious and 
eincere people into attempts to do more than they are able to 



SUNDAY SCHOOLS. 107 

do well ; and the literature of children requires the highest tal- 
ents, and the most careful examination of its tendency, 
especially when its object is religious instruction. Childrens' 
books, which are understood by them to be intended merely for 
their amusement, may be free from any other characteristic, 
without much danger. But when religious instruction is to be 
given through the medium of amusing books, such books re- 
quire the most rigid examination. It is a great mistake to 
suppose they may be silly — or that silliness is, as some authors 
seem to suppose, a quality that adapts them to children's minds. 
On the contrary, good sense and judicious thought, are qualities 
that ought to characterize childrens' books more decidedly than 
any others. 

There are so many denominations that have Sunday School 
books, and it is so natural for a zealous Christian to imagine it 
to be his duty to instil the peculiar doctrines of his denomina- 
tion into the minds of children, that some controverted doctrines 
are promulgated, and controversial theology engendered in 
minds that have not received the truths, concerning which, 
there is no controversy, and which all Christians agree in be- 
lieving to be the most important foundations of Christian 
character. 

If a College of Sunday School Teachers could be organized, 
with members from all the tiifferent denominations, with a view 
to the proper investigation of all the literature of all these 
schools — of enquiring respecting the best methods of manage- 
ment — and, generally, respecting everything that could be 
adopted for their improvement, it might be productive of great 
benefit. 

A revival of the zeal and spirit which stimulated the progress 
of Sunday Schools a quarter of a century ago, would now be a 
seasonable manifestation of a zeal in the cause of truth, which 
might give an impulse, in a right direction, to the unsettled 
minds that are seeking, in spirtual manifestations and similar 
novelties, for solutions of doubts on the most interesting and 
important questions that have ever occupied the human mind. 



108 . SCHOOLS OP CINCINNATI. 

The encouragement of Sunday Schools, is a matter of im- 
portance also in political economy. In cities where the 
Sabbath is a day of mere amusement, a large body of gens 
d'aimes — a numerous police force — is absolutely necessarj"^ to 
keep order ; and thereby a heavy burden of expense is imposed 
on the public. This is a tax on the virtuous, for the gratifica- 
tion of the vicious portion of the community, that can well be 
dispensed with. Foreigners, who have been accustomed to the 
Sunday amusements of continental European cities, have no 
right to claim a dispensation in their favor, from our laws and 
customs. If they are not relieved from restraints and public 
burdens, by coming to this country, sufficient to atone for this 
single restraint, they have done wrong to immigrate, and ought 
to return as soon as possible. Americans are willing to be 
taxed for the support of schools, but not for the support of the 
extra police force that would be necessary, if no restraint were 
placed upon the desecration of the Sabbath. 



CHAPTER XIII. 



YOUNG MEN'S MERCANTILE LIBRARY ASSOCIATION. 

At the meeting of the American Association for the Pro- 
motion of Science, in 1851, at Cincinnati, Professor Henry, in 
seconding, at its close, a motion of thanks to the citizens of 
Cincinnati, remarked : 

" He had heard much of the Great West, much of the Queen 
City, and had come to put his anticipations to the test. He 
expected to see a boundless magnificent forest world, with the 
scattered clearings, and log-cabins, and energetic New-Eng- 
land-descended inhabitants; he thought to find Cincinnati a 
thriving frontier town, exhibiting views of neat frame houses, 
with white fronts, "green doors and brass knockers," but 
instead of this, he found himself in a city of palaces, reared as 
if by magic, and rivaling in appearance any city of the Eastern 
States, or of Europe. But it was not things of mere stone, 
brick, and mortar, which pleased him most in the Queen of the 
West. Imperial Rome had her palaces and noble structures, 
but in her proudest days she boasted not of a Mechanics' Insti- 
tute, an Academy of Natural Sciences, a Mercantile Library 
Association, or of a Young Men's Lyceum of Natural History. 
These are the pride of Cincinnati, these her noblest works. 
Grateful as we ought to be, and are, for the kindness and cour- 
tesy shown us as members of the American Association for 
the Advancement of Science, we are more thankful to the 
Cincinnatians for having founded her literary and scientific 
associations, and for liberally opening her treasuries of knowl- 
edge to the world." 

The Mercantile Library and Mechanics' Institute had each 
offered to the Association the use of its halls, and the session 
had been commenced in those of the former, and terminated in 



110 SCHOOLS OF CINCINNATI. 

those of the latter. The late lamented Sears C. Walker had 
moved the vote of thanks, and Professors Agassiz, ShaefFer, of 
Danville, Ky., and Foster, United States Geologist, made 
remarks equally flattering to the pride of our citizens in their 
institutions, and more especially flattering, from the acknowl- 
edgement of their energy and public spirit in having founded 
them. 

The first association which furnished an example for the 
Young Men's Mercantile Library in Cincinnati, was the " Mer- 
cantile Library Association of New York," which was estab- 
lished in 1820, "to liberalize the minds of that great body of 
men who form the rising hope of our active and varied com- 
merce." It was planned by some merchants' clerks, and soon 
opened, with a collection of about seven hundred volumes, 
which was increased, during the first year, to two thousand. 
It has since been steadily increasing, and now forms one of the 
permanent and honorable institutions of the commercial empo- 
rium of the United States. 

The great body of intelligent young merchants and clerks of 
Cincinnati could not fail to appreciate properly such an insti- 
tution, and to notice its success, with a laudable desire to obtain 
for their city the advantages of a similar institution, and, with 
characteristic Western energy, to improve upon their model — 
which we believe they have done. Certainly, if we compare 
them at periods of equal age, the Cincinnati institution will 
stand highest. 

It was founded in 1835, and has gone forward, in a course of 
uninterrupted prosperity, to this date ; and its library and read- 
ing-room are now models for similar institutions, which are not 
excelled. These are in the Cincinnati College building, and 
occupy the second story front, being together one hundred and 
forty by sixty feet. They display exceeding good taste in their 
arrangements, and their beauty and neatness makes a favora- 
ble impression on every visitor. The Association advanced 
the sum of ten thousand dollars towards the re-building of the 
edifice, and for this they are entiled to the perpetual use of the 
rooms they occupy. The election of its officers is an annual 



YOUNG men's mercantile LIBRARY ASSOCIATION. Ill 

event of great importance in the commercial community, and 
creates as great an excitement, though not on as extensive a 
scale, as our State and National elections. But these elections 
have one feature which we wish the others possessed. It is the 
assurance that each voter feels, that, whichever ticket may be 
successful, the officers elected will manage the business of the 
Institution, according to their best judgment, for its highest 
prosperity, without any thought of private interest or individual 
benefit, beyond those which all the members share alike. 

The time has been, when this might be said of our govern- 
mental elections, in State and nation ; but it is so long ago 
that, if not entirely forgotten, it is considered as belonging to 
the fabulous period (all nations must have a fabulous period) 
of our history. The names of Washington, Jay, Ames, 
Adams, King, Morris, Marshall, and other American worthies, 
are indeed remembered, as being those of veritable historical 
characters; but their pure, unselfish patriotism is not remem- 
bered, or, if remembered, it is seldom with that feeling which 
excites a desire of emulation. 

The government of the Institution is vested in a Board, of 
President, Vice President, Corresponding and Recording Sec- 
retaries, and five Directors. By this Board all the business of 
the Association is done, and it has always been well done ; a 
commendation to which other Boards of Directors have some- 
times been entitled, and which it became fashionable at one 
period for the Directors of our Banks to deserve. They, how- 
ever, were, by this course, considered by our legislators such 
unnatural monsters that they could not be tolerated, and were, 
therefore, driven out of existence, with one exception, which 
has been persecuted to the extent of legislative power, but this, 
however, has not yet been equal to the accomplishment of its 
destruction. 

It is true that the avowed cause of the persecution of our Banks 
was not their honest and correct mode of transacting their busi- 
ness — that was not enquired about. The best motive that can be 
attributed to their persecutors is, that they desired something bet- 
ter, and were so extremely ignorant as to think that they were 



112 SCHOOLS OF CINCINNATI. 

wise enough to establish a system in monied operations differ- 
ing from that of every State by which they were surrounded, 
and contrary to all the experience of every commercial com- 
munity, without giving to others the advantages which they 
compelled our own citizens to abandon. The legislative op- 
pressions, however, of our commercial community have not 
checked their desire for improvement in knowledge, nor the 
the prosperity of the Young Men's Mercantile Library Associ- 
ation. 

Its library contains fifteen thousand five hundred and thirty 
volumes — fifteen hundred volumes of which have been added du- 
ring the past year. The selections of books for this library have 
been so judicious, that, to an ordinary reader, it as valuable as 
some libraries that can publish far more extensive catalogues, 
and which have much higher pretensions. Its reading-room is 
supplied with files of one hundred and sixty newspapers, chiefly 
from cities of our own country, but with a few from Europe ; 
and with sixty-two magazines, reviews, and other similar peri- 
odicals, including most of those of any note published in the 
United States, together with some of those of Great Britain, 
France, and Germany. 

The citizens of Cincinnati have been indebted to this Institu- 
tion for the opportunity of hearing the most eminent public 
lecturers of our country. The Directors have been anxious to 
give this community an opportunity to hear and judge every 
man who has acquired distinction in science or lierature, and 
thereby to improve public taste, and direct it to proper chan- 
nels. And the lectures have been so well attended as to give 
the encouragement to perseverence which success inspires. Not 
only are the regular courses during the winter season well at- 
tended, but occasional courses at other periods have been pro- 
vided, and subjects of interest in science and literature are 
brought forward for public consideration so frequently as to di- 
vide the attention of the citizens, and check that tendency in a 
commercial and manufacturing community to giving an undue 
prominence to the arts of money making, which is the sin that 
most easily besets them. 



YOUNG men's mercantile LIBRARY ASSOCIATION. 113 

c ^ — 

These lectures (those of the regular courses) have hitherto been 
desultory, without any attempt at connecting their subjects, in 
regular succession of instruction on any of the sciences, and, 
although interesting, they cannot be as instructive and useful as 
courses which take up regular sciences, and devote to each of 
them a series of lectures sufficient to communicate a knowl- 
edge of their most important doctrines. This latter plan is 
about to be adopted in such associations in the State of New 
York, and we hope it may be imitated here. It is a character- 
istic of our mercantile young men to be ready to adopt any 
laudable example that may be set them by others, as well as to 
afford laudable examples to others themselves. 

The establishment of classes for instruction in the French 
and German languages, and in mathematics, is a late improve- 
ment and testimony of progress by the Association, which is 
thus spoken of in the historical sketch which prefaces the last 
catalogue of the library : 

" In 1854, the experiment of establishing classes, which had 
been tried more than once before and failed, was again at- 
tempted, and with marked success. 

"Arrangements were made for the temporary use of the room 
occupied by the Ohio Historical and Philosophical Society, in 
the College Building; the following classes were formed on 
the evening of October 2d : 

"French Language, under charge of Prof. A. Brunner. 
German Language, " " " S. Veith. 

Mathematics, " " " C. E. Matthews. 

"At the same time a class was formed for the study of Book 
Keeping, under the charge of Prof R. M. Bartlett, at hisrooms^ 
in Masonic Hall ; and a class in Penmanship, under the charge 
of Prof. W. Thompson, at his rooms, on the corner of Eighth 
and Walnut. 

"It would seem superfluous to dwell on the great benefits which 

this system of instruction will confer on those of our younger 

members whose educational advantages have been limited, but 

who are yet anxious to devote the few hours stolen from an 

15 



114 SCHOOLS OP CINCINNATI. 

exacting vocation to such mental culture as will fit and prepare 
them to ' act well their part' in the great drama of life." 

The sketch closes with the following encouraging remarks ; 

" Thus far the Association has never wanted friends. What- 
ever the emergency, it has never appealed in vain to the liber- 
ality of our citizens. The monument of their munificence is 
before them, and sufficiently commends itself. The past of its 
history is prophetic — and, for the credit of the mercantile pro- 
fession and the honor of our city, may the prophecy be ful- 
filled.'' 

In this hope and expectation this meritorious society will be 
heartily joined by all who desire the prosperity of our country i 



CHAPTER XIV. 



HOUSE OF REFUGE. 

This is a school of repentance and reform for victims (in most 
cases) of parental folly and wickedness. It is a refuge for 
those who, without it, would be an intolerable burden on soci- 
ety. Indeed, the class for whose benefit it was established had 
become such a nuisance in our city that it was found that, if it 
should be suffered to continue and increase, the city would be- 
come uninhabitable. 

In the West generally, and here particularly, the doctrine had 
been adopted that children ought not to be punished for diso- 
bedience, or any other fault or folly, but that " moral suasion " 
must be the only method of subduing evil tempers and untract- 
able dispositions ; and this may be the proper course, perhaps, 
where parents have time, patience, perseverence, wisdom and 
knowledge enough to enable them to govern their children ex- 
clusively by this method ; but those who have none of these 
attributes, and yet adopt no other plan of restraint, are, by far, 
the most numerous class, and the consequences to society are, 
or were, in this city, as above stated, intolerable. 

]n consequence of this state of feeling on the part of those 
who are most active in measures for the general benefit of 
society, a public meeting was called to take the subject into 
consideration, for the purpose of devising and adopting some 
measures to remedy an evil that could no longer be endured. 
At this meeting, a considerable sum of money was subscribed, 
and a committee appointed to solicit further subscriptions, for 
the purpose of establishing such an institution as we now have. 
The subscriptions were liberal, and a committee was appointed 



116 SCHOOLS OF CINCINNATI. 

to visit our Eastern cities, and examine such institutions as 
were similar to the one needed here. This committee attended 
dihgently to their business, and made a judicious report. 

All these proceedings, with the feehng that the proposed 
measure must be popular, induced the City Council to take the 
matter into their hands, as was manifestly their duty, and the 
result has been the establishment of an institution of inesti- 
mable value to the city, and to a numerous body of youthful 
vagrants, as well as to our courts, jails, and penitentiaries, which, 
by its aid, are relieved of much disagreeable business. 

Two classes of children comprise most of the beneficiaries of 
this school — those of naturally strong minds and stubborn 
wills, unsubdued and unregulated ; and those of minds naturally 
weak and timid, which reflect always the vices and follies of 
their teachers, whether these are their parents or out-door com- 
panions. The strong, which are always the worst, lead ; the 
weak are led. The former are the most difficult to reclaim ; 
the latter the most difficult to preserve from relapse when re- 
claimed. Both are, in most cases, children of poverty. Some, 
of that poverty caused by folly and wickedness ; and others, of 
the poverty which naturally results from weak minds and indo- 
lent habits — very few of the poverty arising from misfortune 
alone, such as loss of health or of property, by calamities that 
could not be foreseen or prevented. Great cities always con- 
tain a large class — which, hitherto, all the schools established 
have not been capable of banishing — of neglected children, 
whose minds are unthought of by their parents, and whose 
bodies are suffered to develope themselves without any attention 
or care. In our southern States, disease generally relieves the 
public of so many of this class of children, that no other provision 
is made for them, or considered necessary. In our northern 
States there is, in all the towns, a class of Pariahs, more or less 
numerous, constitutionally lazy, in body and mind, who consti- 
tute, in New England, the " town's poor," and whose children 
require to be taken out of their hands by the " select men " and 
" bound out," as early as possible ; being compelled to attend 
the district schools during a specified period. This mode of 



HOUSE OF REFUGE, 117 

proceeding has descended from earliest times, and was pre- 
scribed by that venerable code of laws, designated as the Blue 
Laws, in the following terms : 

" CHILDREN. 
*' Fforassmuch as the good education of children is of singular behoofe and 
benefit to any commonwealth ; and whereas many parents and masters are 
too indulgent and negligent of their e duty in that kinde : 
"/^ is therefore ordered by this courte, and authority thereof, That the select- 
men of every towne in the severall precincts and quarters where they dwell 
shall have a vigilent eye over theire brethren and neighbours, to see, first, 
that none of them shall suffer so much barbarisme in any of theire familyes, 
as not to indeavor to teach by themselves or others, theire children and ap- 
prentices, so much learning, as may inable them perfectly to read the English 
tongue, and knowledge of the capitall lawes, uppon penalty of twenty shil- 
jngs for each neglect therein ; allso, that all masters of familyes, doe, once 
a week at least, catechise theire children and servants, in the grounds and 
principles of religion, and if any bee unable to doe so much, that then, at 
at the least, they procure such children or apprentices to learn some shorte 
orthodox chatechisme, without booke, that they may bee able to answer to 
the questions that shall be propounded to them out of such catechismes by 
theire parents or masters, or any of the selectmen, where they shall call 
them to a tryall of what they have learned in this kinde ; and further, that 
all parents and masters doe breed and bring up theire children and appreur 
tices in some honest lawfuU calling, labour or imployment, either in hus- 
bandry or some other trade proffitable for themselves and the commonwealth, 
if they will not nor cannott traine them up in learning, to fitt theni for higher 
imployments , and if any of the selectmen, after admonition by them given to 
such masters of familyes, shall finde them still negligent in theire duty, in 
the pfHticulars aforementioned, whereby children and servants become rude, 
stubborne and unruly, the said selectmen, with the helpe of two magistrates, 
shall take such children or apprentices from them, and place them with some 
masters for yeares, boyes till they come to twenty-one, and girles eighteene 
years of age compleat, which will more strictly look unto and force them to 
submitt unto government, according to the rules of this order, if by faire 
roeanes and former instructions they will not be drawn unto it." 

The select men of those towns are represented in the large 
cities by Directors of the House of Refuge, or any similar in- 
stitution, whose duty it is to go out into the highways and 
hedges of society, and compel all the vagabond children to 
come in. Many are sent in by parents too ignorant to knovv> 
or too lazy to perform, their duties towards their own children, and 



118 SCHOOLS OF CINCINNATI. 

who find the burden of their own sins visited upon their child- 
ren, too inconvenient to bear — or, perhaps, too expensive — inter- 
fering too much with their appropriations for supplies of whisky, 
or for cherishing such other vices as they may prefer to the 
welfare of their children. Such parents, as well as the gallows, 
the State prison, the jail, and the chain-gang are under great 
obligations to the House of Refuge for relieving them from a 
large portion of their burdens. 

The House of Refuge is pleasantly situated in the valley of 
Millcreek, about two miles from the city boundary, (the city be- 
ing but two miles in breadth,) but, though a pleasant, and in 
many respects very suitable, location, it was, in other respects, 
an unfortunate selection, since it is so much below the level of 
the Miami canal at that point as to have suffered great damage, 
with some risk of life, by the breaking of its banks, and causing 
thereby an overflow so extensive as to break down a portion of 
the walls surrounding the buildings, and do other material in- 
juries to the establishment. This event, that it may not again 
occur, has caused additional precautions to be adopted, both by 
restraining the canal and strengthening the walls around the 
buildings. 

The buildings were erected in 1850, and the architecture of 
the main building is in good taste, in the old collegiate gothic- 
style ; while the wall, and its appointments, reminds us of an- 
cient castellated structures — giving, in combination, an idea of 
restraint and of youthful instruction very appropriate. Its pro- 
portions, size, and symmetry make it a beautiful building with- 
out the aid of any other ornament or expensive decoration, 
except a beautiful portico, of Indiana marble. It is built of 
the blue limestone which lines our hills, and underlies the Ohio 
river, and which is a cheap, durable, and appropriate building 
material. 

The main building is 276 feet in length and 57^ in breadth. 
The walls enclosing it, with the other necessary buildings of 
the institution, are 17 feet high and 2^ feet thick, enclosing 
260,000 feet of ground. The Directors appoint Matrons, 
Teachers. Superintendants, and all other necessary officers. 



' HOUSE OF REFUGE. 119 

The pupils are taught some employment by which they may 
earn an honest livelihood, and also those rudiments of knowl- 
edge, which are now considered necessary, even in the humblest 
walks of life, in free States, viz : reading, writing, and arith- 
metic. 

There are over two hundred and fifty rooms in the buildings, 
and they are warmed by steam and lighted by gas. Cisterns 
are provided, of sufficient dimensions, to contain all the water 
necessary ; and a drain, under ground, to Mill creek, carries off 
the filth and surplus water of the establishment. 

The entire cost of the building and fixtures, says Cist, is 
" about $150,000 ; and competent judges, after surveying the 
premises, pronounce them to be the best constructed, and most 
convenient of the kind in the United States." 

In a report by James H. Perkins, in 1839, the necessity of 
such an institution as this House of Refuge, was thus ably set 
forth : — *' The idle boys of our cities are often idle because they 
are evil ; because no teacher will have them in his school, and 
no workman dare employ them in his shop. If, for instance, a 
boy in Cincinnati is known to have been criminally or habitu- 
ally bad, he can scarcely hope to find employment or instruction, 
even if his parents and he desire it. We have no school of 
moral reform resembling the Farm School and others near 
Boston, intended for bad boys especially ; and the consequence 
is, our bad boys become street-idlers. And if these boys have 
been bad enough to come within reach of the law, they are 
thereby made only worse. For example, one is caught steal- 
ing, and is taken before the Mayor. The Mayor sends him to 
jail, or sets him free. If he sends him to jail, he is placed 
where every influence tends to deprave and harden him ; and 
he comes out reckless, bold, and cunning. If the Mayor sets 
him free, then does he lose all respect and fear for the law. 
In either case he becomes a street-idler of the most dangerous 
kind, and will soon be the center and monarch of a little band 
of reprobates and contemners of God and man. One such 
youth will influence thirty or forty, through his superior knowl- 
edge and courage ; they will admire and fear him, and he will 



120 SCHOOLS OF CINCINNATI. 

teach them to smoke, drink, swear, stab, and steal. Mr. Dick- 
en's sketch of " the Artful Dodger" would apply to a class of 
youths in all western cities. Now, with even a few such abroad, 
among the vagrant boys, the whole body becomes evil, and 
often most openly so. The " Fly Market Rangers" and " Swamp 
Boys," of Cincinnati, afford melancholy instances of juvenile 
depravity and crime : both have, within the year, sent repre* 
sentatives to the Penitentiary for murder and highway robbery. 

" Among the street-idlers, of our western cities, are found also 
many of those " river boys," who, if not criminal, are versed in 
every form and degree of vice. More than once have I heard 
striplings of twelve and thirteen, with oaths of the most labored 
profanity, tell their drunken adventures, and relate their visits, 
in company with the deck-hands, to the brothels and gaming 
tables of this place and Louisville. 

" One is not aware, until some research has been bestowed 
upon the subject, of the number of reckless and desperate boys 
in our western cities. The Mayor of Cincinnati informs me, 
that the worst characters ever brought before him, grew up idle 
boys in our streets." 

The report then particularizes some further facts, calling for 
this establishment, and closes thus : 

" But beyond all this, through the truants, evil knowledge and 
evil practices come into the little kingdom of the school. Pun- 
ishment becomes necessary, and then the children punished 
leave, and become idlers themselves ; for many a parent will 
allow his son to leave school and roam the streets, because he 
has been chastised. Thus is the army of street vagrants con* 
tinually replenished, and many an intelligent child drawn 
from the way to usefulness and virtue, to plunge into dissipa- 
tion and sin. 

" Nay, even if the boy do not leave school, his leisure hours, 
his evenings, are spent with his new friends, the street-idlers ; 
and under the cover of night he is ushered from scen^to scene 
in the school of vice, where they learn so willingly. 

" The influence of street-idlers upon our schools is, therefore, 
1 think, to diminish the numbers benefitted by them, and to 



HOUSE OE REFUGE. 121 

lessen their good influence upon all. To remedy the evils now 
felt, 1 think we need schools of moral reform for the vicious, 
and houses of refuge for the criminal. Without such institu- 
tions, our Common Schools and Private Schools are crippled in 
their influence over the minds and hearts of the young. The 
Common School system we deem essential to public virtue, 
and the well being of our democracy ; and the same views 
which lead to its existence among us, would lead also, if carried 
out, to the establishment of schools for those who cannot come 
under the influence of our Common Schools." 

The influence of Mr. Perkins was not confined to written 
statements of the necessity of this institution. In this, as in 
all good public works, he was active and zealous, sparing no 
pains, or labor of mind, or body, to bring about the object. 

To the late Mr. Sam'l Lewis, of whom we have spoken al- 
ready, the same commendation is due. His labors, during 
many years of the prime of his life, were for the public and 
posterity. 

Others, who are still living, and still contributing their aid to 
all good and useful public institutions, were forward and zeal- 
ous in the foundation of this most useful institution, and they 
have their reward in the knowledge of the benefits it is calcu- 
lated to confer on their fellow citizens, and their posterity. 
16 



CHAPTER XV. 



COLL^Gte OF ST. XAVIER. 

In the year 1821, the Roman Catholic denomination had but 
one church in the city or vicinity of Cincinnati, and that was a 
small frame building, situated beyond its boundary at that 
time, though within it at present. In the course of the next 
year, it was taken down and re-erected in the city, on Syca- 
more street, but was soon taken down again, to give place to 
a larger and more permanent structure of brick, and, with the 
tower and spire in front, forming, at that time, one of the most 
ornamental buildings in the city. At about that period, the 
Rev. Mr. Hill was appointed Vicar-General of this Diocese* 
He was one of the highest class of gentlemen — had been a 
distinguished officer under Wellington in Spain, where he 
became a convert to the Roman Catholic Church — a man of 
pleasing manners, instructive in conversation, and eloquent in 
preaching. Under his superintendence, the church had a rapid 
increase, and two or three other ecclesiastics were stationed 
here. 

The institution which is now the College above-named, was 
then established — ^at first under the title of the "Atheneum," 
with the inscription on its front, "Religioni et Artibus Sacrum," 
and a good school was organized, with a sufficient number of 
teachers to attend closely to all the pupils, both in their hours 
of study and recreation. 

This feature, in which most of our prominent seminaries are 
defective, gave the school a reputation which induced a num- 
ber of Protestants to prefer it to any of our other schools for 
the education of their sons. It had then become (as it has 
since continued in the West) an established rule, that teachers 
should not be allowed to punish pupils for any fault. The con- 



COiLEGE OF ST. XAVIER. ]23 

sequence was, that such a degree of lawlessness prevailed in 
our schools as to deprive them of much of their usefulness. 
The arrangement of subordinate teachers in numbers sufficient 
to keep every pupil constantly in view, served as a substitute 
for the old-fashioned system of discipline by the rod and ferule, 
and caused the Atheneum to become a popular and flourishing 
school. It obtained a charter, with the usual powers of a 
college, and established a theological department. The insti- 
tution continued but a short time, however, in its original flour- 
ishing state, and although the denomination increased so 
rapidly that it now possesses thirteen very large churches, with 
a splendid cathedral — one of the best specimens of Grecian 
architecture in the city — all of which are crowded with wor- 
shippers on Sundays, yet the college did not seem to partake 
of their progress, and it was a few years since transferred to 
the order of the Jesuits, 

The theological department, which had been removed to a 
very pleasant situation on Walnut Hills, has been discon- 
tinued, (probably transferred to another place,) and the college 
classes, except the preparatory ones, suspended. The institu- 
tion has a fine library, but not sufficiently extensive accommo- 
dations for a college. It is, however, intended to renew the 
system of instruction, and establish the regular collegiate 
classes. A large building for a free school connected with the 
institution, has been erected near the College, and is very 
flourishing. There are thirteen other schools, connected, each 
of them, with one of the Catholic churches. They are all 
large and substantial buildings, comparing very favorably in 
appearance with the city free schools. They are established 
for the purpose of preserving the pupils from the influence of 
Protestanism, to which they would be exposed in our common 
schools. 

An eflbrt was made, several years ago, to obtain a division 
of the funds raised by taxation, for school purposes, to the dif- 
ferent religious denominations, but it did not succeed; the 
principle being established, that, like our National and State 
governments, our school boards are not to know, or be infla- 



124 SCHOOLS OF CINCINNATI. 

enoed by any sectarian sentiments. It is their duty to admin- 
ister the trust committed to their charge for the common 
benefit, according to their best judgment, without inquiry 
whether any particular ybrm of Christianity is in the ascendant, 
and without reference to any party or sect. This principle is 
now so fully established, that if any denomination requires 
schools, in which its peculiar doctrines must be taught, it must 
provide them, without aid from the public treasury. The 
undisputed principles and doctrines of Christianity are recog- 
nized as governing principles in all our schools, but those doc- 
trines which are the foundation of controversies and strifes are 
not the proper subjects for youthful minds to be engaged in 
studying. It is quite early enough for men to take hold of 
these, when they are men. 

The College of St. Xavier has not been an exception to the 
remark, respecting the colleges generally of America and 
Europe, that they have exhibited extraordinary powers of 
standing still, while everything else was in rapid progress. 
Our railroads furnish a good exemplification of the progress of 
the age ; at first, ten miles an hour was hoped for, very soon 
twenty was too slow, and now any rate of speed below a mile 
a minute is considered too slow for a well-appointed railroad. 
When such a rate of progress is the rule, it is dangerous to 
stand still, even for colleges, which, in the United States, have 
not an equal amount of facilities for standing still with those 
of Europe — of Great Britain especially. Young America has 
but little respect for antiquity — less than would be salutary — 
and it would be pleasant if we had some such venerable insti- 
tutions as Oxford and Cambridge, which could not fail to give 
us a little of that respect for our ancestors, which, as a conser- 
vative principle, ought not to be entirely wanting. There can 
be no more beautiful memorial of the ancestors of any people 
than those venerable institutions, which exhibit them in their 
brightest light, and enable their posterity to contemplate their 
good qualities without having their contemplations assailed by 
such shocks as history is obliged to give to the memory of the 
ancestors of all people. Such colleges as those above referred 



COLLEGE OF ST. XAVIER. 125 

to, and the numerous old cathedrals, are matters in which 
Europe has an advantage over us that w^e can never overcome. 
Almost anything else that is found there, if we desire it, and it 
is the work of man, we determine to obtain, and generally suc- 
ceed in obtaining it, or something better of the kind ; and even 
of the works of nature, which man cannot imitate, we flatter 
ourselves that we possess specimens in all points equal, and in 
many superior, to those of the old countries, as we call those 
of Europe, though they are quite modern, in comparison with 
those of Asia. And our mountains, our Niagara, our rivers, 
our prairies, our forests, our lakes, and all other works of 
nature, we consider far superior to those of Europe, and boast 
of them accordingly, as signs of our superior greatness, as 
though nature made the men of different countries upon the 
same scale with the constituent features of the regions they 
inhabit. Some disposition to magnify the value of what we 
possess, is stimulated by wounded vanity, caused by the habit, 
in early times, of European depreciation of everything Ameri- 
can ; and another large portion is a regular inheritance from 
our English ancestry, one of whose writers, in his boast of the 
superiority of everything English, says, that even English ras- 
cals are greater rascals than those of any other country. We 
are willing to yield this palm to them, and are obliged to yield 
that of collegiate antiquities. But we hope and trust that our 
country is not behind any other in the possession of the means 
of giving such a complete education to its youth as will fit 
them for whatever station in life they may be destined to 
occupy ; or, if we have not arrived at this point, our railroad 
progress will soon bring us to it. 

The body of Catholic clergy which has the government of 
the parochial schools, to which we have referred, does not 
publish reports, like those of our school boards of superinten- 
dents, and we have not the means, therefore, of understanding 
their system of instruction in all its details ; but we take it for 
granted that, like all their other institutions, it is more stable — 
less progressive — than that of our free schools, and that the 
religious instruction of the pupils forms a very important 
portion of it. 



CHAPTER XVI. 



AMERICAN FEMALE COLLEGE. 

The women of the ancient Germans were more highly, and 
more deservedly, respected than those of any of the early races 
of uncivilized people. The consequence has been that the de- 
scendants of that race constitute, at this day, almost all the 
nations that have made advances in the arts and sciences — in 
the social virtues — in civilization and refinement. 

Men who do not respect their mothers will seldom become 
good members of society, or contribute to the prosperity of their 
country. And if such men become so numerous as to give 
character to their nation, it will retrogade towards barbarism, 
if it has been civilized, and if it has not, will remain savage 
and barbarous. And if a nation thus retrogades, there is no 
redemption for it — it must be exterminated, as all the nations 
under Roman civilization, when their women had become 
irreclaimable corrupt, were, by the German barbarians, whose 
women, although without modern accomplishments, were re- 
spected and reverenced. They possessed the virtues which 
their rude state of society required, while those of the nations 
constituting the Roman Empire had acquired all the vices of 
civilization, and retained the worst of those of the savage state, 
and had become so generally depraved in morals and loose in 
manners, that it was impossible for their children to entertain 
for them reverence or esteem. Such people cannot be patriots 
nor defend their country against those who may desire to become 
its conquerors. 

The universally admitted characteristic of our country, that 
women are more generally treated with high consideration and 
respect in it than any other country, la a distinction among 



AMERICAN FEMALE COLLEGE. 127 

civilized nations which, like that of the Germans among bar- 
barians, if it can be preserved, will give us sufficient assurance of 
progress towards extensive dominion, and constantly increasing 
wealth and power. 

The uneducated women of uncivilized Germany possessed 
the virtues of chastity, temperance, and industry. These, among 
a rude, uncultivated, heathen people, were enough. Their 
characters gave — through their influence on their sons, hus- 
bands, and brothers — that superiority of their nation to those 
by which they were surrounded, that will always be acquired 
by any people whose women are characterized by such virtues. 

In civilized. Christian, communities, these virtues, with all 
those enumerated in the Apostle's definition of charity, must be 
cultivated. The inculcation of these virtues constitutes the 
most important part of female education. The physical qual- 
ities, which require cultivation, will give and receive aid, to and 
from, those which are ranked as moral and intellectual. To 
provide the most suitable means for the inculcation of the lat- 
ter qualities, with very little consideration for the former, has, 
generally been considered the whole duty of man in regard to 
female education. This is a grievous error, and grievously 
have our females answered it.* But, on this subject, we shall 
have more to say presently. 

In female education, the first, and most important requisite, 
is well qualified teachers, the mothers being the earliest and 
most efficient. This, like action in oratory, may be styled the 
first, second, and third requisite. There are, however, others, 
although of minor importance, and among these are the local- 
ities of the schools. Salubrity is indispensable, for no one 
doubts that all institutions for educational purposes should be 
in healthful locations. But there are other points in the matter 
of situation, in which there is a difference of opinion. Some 
persons prefer a populous city as a place for the education of 
their daughters, on account of the many incidental advantages 



*The unfortunate Countess of Orsoli is a melancholy instance of the error in female 
education, of devoting it entirely to the cultivation of the intellect. 



128 SCHOOLS OF CINCINNATI. 

that cities afford. And when parents, or vigilant guardians 
can exercise that care and watchfulness over them, which are 
necessary, these are entitled to consideration. There are, also, 
disadvantages in a city institution which will not be experienced 
in one removed beyond the immediate influences of city life, 
In general, those persons who send their daughters from home 
for education, prefer the superior healthfulness, quiet, and re- 
tirement of the country. But, in this case, it is generally desi- 
rable to be so near a city as to have easy means of communi- 
cation. 

In the several institutions in and around Cincinnati, a choice 
is offered between town and country, each affording all the 
necessary advantages. And if its citizens were entitled to the 
thanks of the American Association for the Advancement of 
Science, for having such institutions as facilitate the scientific 
progi'ess of our country, they are entitled, in a still higher de- 
gree, to the thanks of their fellow countrymen, and mankind, 
for their early attention to female education. For proof of 
their earnestness in this cause, they can point to testimonials in 
the form of institutions of the highest class ; and to many female 
teachers in our common and high schools, as well as members 
of private families, they can point, as evidence of success, in 
the forms of instruction they have adopted. 

It is, doubtless, true, that these institutions — like others — are 
still susceptible of improvement; and our past history is a 
guarantee that such improvements will be adopted as fast as 
they can be devised and proved to be practicable and expedient. 

But, even if our female colleges should be still distant from 
perfection, in their plans and details, they are not the less cred- 
itable to the judgment which early perceived the necessity of 
such institutions, and the patriotism which provided them. For 
no higher evidence of patriotism can be given than by efforts 
to elevate the character of the future mothers of America, and 
no better proof of good and sound judgment than a due esti- 
mate of the necessity that the progress of improvement should 
be as decidedly manifested in the women as the men of our 
country. And they ought to be too well educated to imagine 



AMERICAN FEMALE COLLEGE. 129 

that this manifestation can be made by assuming men's gar- 
ments or masculine manners. The more womanly a woman 
is, the more she is beloved and respected ; and the itch to test 
the peculiarities of the male sex in dress and manners, is one 
of those indications of bad taste which is peculiarly unwomanly 
and disagreeable. 

Whatever rights women require will be cheerfully accorded 
them by the sons of virtuous, prudent, and intelligent mothers, 
for such sons can enjoy no higher gratification than that of 
promoting the happiness of those to whom they are indebted 
for all they possess in character that is truly valuable. 

As in this community the influence of elevated, intelligent 
female character was one of the earliest of our social influ- 
ences, the attention of the judicious and patriotic of our pioneers 
was earlier directed to the subject of female education, and 
their idea of it was fixed on a higher scale than is generally 
found among the early settlers of new countries. 

The " good white woman," — -as the Indians called her — of 
Cincinnati, and the Lady Arabella, of the Pilgrims, although 
they performed no acts for history to record, could not fail to 
exert that silent, quiet, holy influence on the taste and manners 
of society, which is the peculiar province of womanhood, and 
which would naturally lead to the desire, even on the part of the 
rudest and least civilized, that their daughters might obtain the 
education which^ they perceived to be productive of such good 
efiects. 

The censure bestowed upon us by Miss Wright, to which we 
have alluded in another chapter, might, perhaps, have been 
appropriate to many older and wealthier communities; but 
here, if she had looked outward and around her, she would have 
discovered commendable instances of the improvement and 
progress of female education, and these instances have been 
increasing and multiplying since that time as rapidly as they 
were required by the increase of our population. 

Among the latest of these is one to which men of science, 
and men of wealth, are contributing material and intellectual 
aid, with a view to give it eminence, and with a determination 
17 



130 BCHOOLS OF CINCINNATI. 

that nothing shall be wanting to its success that can be afforded 
by those necessary stimulants. 

The institution to which we refer has assumed the title of 
" The American Female College," and is situated at Glendale, 
a beautiful suburban village of Cincinnati, whose site was se- 
lected by a number of wealthy citizens of that city, on account 
of its great beauty, and other advantages, as a desirable place 
for the establishment of country seats — it being high and healthy, 
and twelve miles distant from the city, on the Hamilton and 
Dayton Railroad. The association, by which the village was laid 
out, in 1852, determined that, in addition to its natural beauties 
and advantages, it should possess, for intelligent and enlight- 
ened persons, the further attraction of being made a seat of 
education ; and that all the accompaniments of civilized and 
refined society should be found there. As a summer retreat, 
and as a seat of learning, it has already acquired so high a 
reputation, that its improvements have been very rapid, and 
are in constant progress. 

The College is under the charge of the Rev. Mr. Covert, for- 
merly President of the Ohio Female College, and it possesses 
similar advantages, in buildings and accommodations, to that 
institution. Its curriculum is sufficiently extensive to satisfy 
the highest demands of those who desire a thorough education 
for their daughters, and it has similar advantages of healthful- 
ness of situation, to those of the above mentioned College. It 

has a numerous and able Faculty. 

******* 

The physical characteristics of American women have, of 
late, been a subject of anxious attention to those who take a 
a proper interest in female education. It seems to be the ex- 
perience of our age, that women, as they advance in cultivation 
and intelligence, decline in physical health and strength. To 
many persons, these circumstances seem to be connected as cause 
and effect ; and they think the race of strong minded women, 
which, of late, has so frequently been asking for the loan of 
our ears at public meetings, might be profitably exchanged for 
strong bodied ones, who could give us the benefit of a due atten- 



AMERICAN FEMALE COLLEGE. 131 

tion to the comfort of their families and the education of their 
children. To this last doctrine we subscribe, but not to that 
which attributes effects to causes that ought to produce those of 
a contrary nature. In support of the notions above referred 
to, we are told to notice the superior health and strength of the 
Indian and Negro women, whose minds no attempts are ever 
made to cultivate, and who are superior to the men of the same 
races, in health, if not in strength. A greater proportion of 
the women of the United States, receive education that requires 
mental exercise alone than those of any other country, and it is 
eaid that a greater proportion of them become so sickly and 
weak, in bodily qualities, as to unfit them for the ordinary duties 
of wives and mothers. But these two circumstances are not cause 
and effect. In the records of longeTity, we find that the pro- 
portion of those who have lived longest, and enjoyed best 
health, is greater among those whose minds have been cultiva- 
ted, and who have exercised their mental faculties most regu- 
larly, than among the ignorant : and there can be no doubt that 
a due proportion of bodily and mental exercise, each judiciously 
regulated, will give better health to man or woman than any 
course of life without such admixture. We must, therefore, look 
to some other cause for the physical degeneracy of our women. 
We treat them with greater respect, we lighten their labors 
as much as possible, and we study their comforts and conveni- 
ence to such an extent that it has formed one of our national 
characteristics. But the superior importance of intellectual 
and moral education has caused us to overlook the necessity of 
physical training ; or, at least, to neglect the due proportion of 
each, and the proper seasons and modes for bodily exercise. 
The women of Great Britain are generally noticed in favorable 
contrast with those of America, in respect to health and strength, 
and their superiority in this point is generally attributed, and 
probably correctly, to their taking more exercise in the open 
air. The ability to do this, however, is, in a great nieasure, 
an attribute of climate. The extreme heat of our summers, 
and equally extreme cold of our winters, with the uncertain and 
uncomfortable mixture of both in the spring, forbid out of door 



132 SCHOOLS OF CINCINNATI, 

exercise to females, during a great portion of the year. Our 
respect for the sex which has established the rule that none but 
household labors are suitable to women, and that those should 
be made as light as possible, may, perhaps, be considered, by 
some, as an unwholesome bias in their favor. This opinion, 
however, would not be justified, if they would be rigid in pro-? 
portion to the ease of their manner of life, in living — 

" According to the sober laws. 
And holy dictates of spare temperance." 

As in the early periods of our history, the pioneers thought 
it no transgression of the laws of temperance, to use whisky 
freely as a prophylactic ; so, in these latter days, our women 
think it no infringement of these laws, to indulge their appe- 
tites freely, in cakes, candies, sweetmeats, and confections of 
all kinds — and they are equally mistaken. One of the most 
important instructions which can be given to young ladies, is 
the knowledge of what temperance comprises, and the religious 
dut)' required of them to obey its sober laws, and holy dictates, 
They should be made to understand, that intemperance, in any- 
thing — in eating no less than drinking — sows the seeds of pains, 
that will greatly overbalance any pleasure that it can afford. 
If it be accompanied by laborious exercise in the open air, its 
effects are more slowly developed, and not so violent ; but 
where it is, as is most frequently the case, an attendant on 
habitual indolence, that form of dyspepsia, which it is sure to 
produce, is among the most fearful of all human evils, racking 
the body with pain, and the mind with distracting fears, and 
fancies enough to make life a most intolerable burden. 

Temperance, judicious exercise, pure air, (which we, in this 
country, dread more than is wholesome for us,) and occasional 
abstinence, (the fasts of the Catholic Church are wholesome,) 
would do much to restore the women of our country to that 
state of health, in which alone, the physical blessings of life 
can be enjoyed. And if the women of the present day, desire 
to maintain that high consideration and respect, which has 



AMERICAN FEMALE COLLEGE. 133 

always been shown to their mothers, they must pay more regard 
to their bodily health, than they have generally thought neces- 
sary. A woman who is incapable of fulfilling the duties of her 
station in life, whether from ill health, or any other misfortune, 
although she may be an object of pity and commiseration, will 
seldom be one of high consideration and respect. 

The natural desire of all females to increase their beauty by 
every possible means, induces many to adopt, for this purpose, 
measures productive of a directly opposite effect — such, for in- 
stance, as compressing their forms unnaturally ; — and one of 
the most necessary instructions to young women is, that health 
is the most important element of beauty, and this is, in most 
cases, within their own control. Altering their complexions by 
cosmetics, or their shapes by corsets, will never make them 
more lovely or more beloved, for the laws of nature cannot be 
changed by such efforts, and these laws have decreed that they 
affect health, and, consequently, beauty, unfavorably. 

In Miss Catharine Beecher's " Letters on Health and Happi- 
ness," lately published, we find sufficient authority for the 
facts which have excited the foregoing remarks. In them the 
subject of female health is earnestly as well as learnedly and 
appropriately discussed ; and the details of healthful occupa- 
tion for body and mind judiciously indicated. 

Our prescriptions for the preservation of health, have always 
comprised temperance, cleanliness, pure air, and a great deal 
of it, good tempers, decent and appropriate clothing, and judi- 
cious exercise. These things require extraordinary attention in 
the conduct of female education. Our women must be so judi- 
ciously educated, as to be able to bear the extraordinary defer- 
ence paid, in this country, to their sex, without being spoiled 
by it, or led to imagine that they can combine in themselves, 
the peculiar characteristics of the male and female, and retain 
the consideration we show them as women, when they assume 
the airs of men. 

Parents are frequently to blame for the vices and follies of 
their children, and their foolish and criminal indulgence, is the 



134 SCHOOLS OF CINCINNATI. 

cause of many of the diseases of body and mind, which bring 
on premature decay, individual and national. 

The degeneracy which must follow bodily weakness, and 
disease in our women, cannot be averted by any cares that can 
be devoted to boys. If we would not allow the bright antici- 
pations which we all entertain of our country's future progress 
and destiny, to be blasted — if we would not follow in the foot- 
steps of those nations which have gone on in folly and vice, 
until it became absolutely necessary that their choicest blessings 
should be taken away from them — we must search out and re- 
move those causes which are producing such terrible weaknesses 
and diseases among our women. 

It is generally supposed, that if men who transgress the laws 
of man, had not secret hopes of being able to escape the pun- 
ishment ordained for their crimes, there would be but few 
committed. And the instances are so frequent, of such escapes, 
that it is not surprising such hopes should be entertained. 
But for transgressions of the laws of health, which are the laws 
of nature — of God — there is no possibility of escape. Sins 
and punishments are cause and effect, they cannot be separated 
like crimes and punishments. And the attempt to escape those 
ordained for idleness and intemperance, by the aid of quack 
medicines, (the common resort of such sinners,) only add the 
tortures invented by man, to the pains ordained by God, as 
the inevitable punishment of disobedience. 

The follies and vices, which seem to be the natural attendants 
of wealth and leisure, are, generally, as rapidly developed as 
the prosperity which encourages them, and if our onward pro- 
gress in wealth and power, must be equalled by the backward 
progress of our women in physical health, and the degeneracy 
which must mark the sons of sickly mothers, then our prosperity 
is a punishment instead of a theme for self-glorification. If it 
be a general characteristic of our country, that our women are 
already as remarkable for their transgression of the laws of 
health, as would be inferred from the statistics of female health, 
in Miss Beecher's Letters, " there is no shuffling" off the conse' 



AMERICAN FEMALE COLLEGE. 135 

quences ; our decline and fall will be as marked and rapid, as 
has been our rise and progress, if we do not adopt some meas- 
ures to check our downward career. The desideratum of an 
invention to check locomotives when they are about to run 
against each other, or to run off the track, is not by any means 
as great as is needed to save our nation from running off the 
course of glorious improvement, w^hich seems to be before us. 
Our schools must adopt such systems of instruction as will 
demonstrate the importance of physical, as well as mental 
improvements. 

With boys, the general love of athletic sports, of enterprising 
adventure, and out of door amusements, give them advantages 
denied to girls. The " exploits of strength, dexterity, or speed,"* 
are not permitted to girls — they are considered inconsistent 
with female delicacy, and how far the system of Calisthenics, 
introduced into female schools, may be a sufficient substitute, 
is scarcely yet decided. It is the duty of mothers to give a 
right direction to the minds of their daughters, and their earli- 
est instructions ought to include that of making them understand 
fully, the laws of health, and the punishments that follow their 
neglect. They ought to be made to feel that neither the highest 
degree of respectability, nor even the most moderate share of 
beauty, can be preserved, without due obedience to these laws. 
And where diseases are inherited, although the children cannot 
escape a portion of the punishments due the parents, yet they 
can mitigate, and, in some cases, entirely remove them, by at- 
tention to those laws which have been broken, and of which 
disease and early death are the punishments. 

It is undoubtedly true, that unless the minds of women can 
be so highly cultivated, and enlightened, as to enable them to 
understand how it is that good health is a better cosmetic than 
pearl powders and rouge — that pure air is a necessary of life — 
that God has ordained '* labor and rest, as day and night suc-> 



• That these " no vanity or joy could bring," to the son whom Dr. Beattie so feel- 
ingly and deeply lamented, was not, as he seemed to suppose, a trait of excellence in 
his character, but, probably, one of the causes of his untimely death. 



136 SCHOOLS OF CINCINNATI. 

cessive" — and that temperance includes a great deal more than 
abstinence from alcoholic liquors; they must be made the slaves 
that they are among the savages, or the merchandize that the 
Mahometans make of them. If they cannot be temperate in 
things allowed, and abstinent in things forbidden, their " rights," 
instead of being increased, will be restricted, until the term 
obedience shall comprehend them all. 



CHAPTER XVII. 



THE MEDICAL COLLEGE OF OHIO, 

The medical profession has always been remarkable for the 
belligerent propensities of its professors; and Cincinnati has 
furnished as eminent examples in this branch of medical prac- 
tice as in the doctrines taught in the text-books of the other 
departments of medical science. 

It is a general characteristic of mankind to be willing to 
fight in behalf of whatever is considered of paramount impor- 
tance to their well-being, present or prospective, and the 
religion whose first announcement and most important precept 
is, " peace on earth," has always had more professors who were 
ready to fight in its cause than obey its precepts — enough 
always ready to die in its defense, but a marvelously small 
number who were willing to defend and difiuse its doctrines by 
living in conformity with them. The Christian religion is of 
the highest possible importance to mankind spiritually. The 
medical profession is so influential upon their physical well- 
being, that it is next in power to stimulate combativeness, and 
cause the sacrifice of great good to the evil principle of our 
nature. 

The late Dr. Godman — eminent as a profound physician 
and anatomist, and capable of exercising his anatomical 
powers on the human mind — a consistent Christian, and, in 
every respect, a most amiable man — endeavored, during his 
residence in Cincinnati, to investigate the causes of the 
remarkable tendency to contention and strife which seemed to 
mark his profession. He says : 

"In the other professions, the road to wealth or fame ia 
generally open to the exertion of the best talents or the most 
persevering industry. This results from the manner in which 
18 



138 SCHOOLS OF CINCINNATI. 

these talents are displaj^ed before the world, and the greater 
degree of ability mankind in general have of deciding on their 
true value. In the other professions, harmony is insured, to a 
certain extent, by the nature of the pursuit in which the mem- 
bers are engaged. They are in the pulpit, employed in teach- 
ing the necessity of peace and concord, and here the door is at 
once closed against the entrance of dissension.* At the bar, 
the exertions of the members are made openly, before the 
people, and those against whom charges are made are present, 
to hear and answer them by their counsel. The jurist looks 
forward, and perceives that those who are present to judge of 
his conduct are the persons on whom he may have to depend 
hereafter for patronage, and he, of necessity, desires to stand 
well in their estimation. 

" Far different is the situation of the physician. As he is 
called on to save the lives of those who are endeared by every 
tie to their friends, these friends, by their very solicitude, often 
bring him into difficulties. He must listen to their suggestions, 
even when contrary to his own judgment; he often suffers 
them to displace his prescriptions by their own ; he must fre- 
quently have his feelings mortified and his knowledge under- 
valued ; must submit to be directed by the capricious fancy of 
the inexperienced and ignorant nurse — because, if he bears 
not all these, or more, he will be discharged, and his place 
filled by one who will make up, in flattery and cunning, for all 
his defects in knowledge. Humbling as this picture is, we call 
on those to deny it, that are able to do so, and if any such are 
to be found, we congratulate them heartily on their good 
fortune. 

" If the physician attempts to discharge the duties of his pro- 
fession conscientiously, he will meet with innumerable difficul- 
ties. Generally speaking, medicine is not necessary in twelve 
cases out of twenty, as the diseases to which we are usually 



* It were greatly to be desired that this particular assertion could be as easily 
established as it ought to be; but hitherto, such has been their experience, that most of 
the professors would, instead of subscribing to the correctness of this assertion, be 
tempted to say of it, like Usher Jenkins, " a grievious untruth, brother." 



MEDICAL COLLEGE OF OHIO. 139 

subject are, in this proportion, caused by our improprieties in 
eating or drinking, and to be remedied by attention to diet and 
exercise. Yet that physician loses his employment who does 
not avoid, as much as possible, all reference to the true source 
of the malady, and humor the wishes of the patient by giving 
him medicine, when he ought to direct him to shun it. Even 
when disease is not caused by such irregularities, and is to be 
put to flight by abstinence and exercise alone, the physician 
recommending them incurs a considerable danger of losing the 
good opinion of his patient, if he is not set aside to make 
room for another. These follies, in patients, result from erro- 
neous notions relative to the virtues of medicine and the office 
of the physician. They suppose, that whatever injury may be 
done to the system, the physician has some medicine which 
can be directly applied, and, by its proper virtue, can directly 
repair the breach. They consider the physician as they do a 
maker of clocks, who can supply the place of a damaged 
wheel by a new one, and thus render the instrument as effi- 
cient as before. Instead of this, there is no one medicine 
which acts on the human constitution otherwise than indirectly, 
almost universally operating on the general system before it 
reaches a particular part, and changing the general actions 
before it affects individual functions." 

Many other judicious remarks follow, which may be com- 
mended to the attention of physicians, and the following, (as 
well as the foregoing,) to society in general : 

" Disparity of education is often a painful source of dissen- 
sion, as well as disparity in point of talent or success. A man 
of good education has resources out of the reach of him who 
has little or none ; however willing he may be to stifle his pre- 
tensions to superiority, they must often be felt; if they are 
felt, the offence is sufficient cause for hostility. This is not 
merely confined to medicine ; it is true in relation to all man- 
kind, and is felt in every rank of life. The remedy is to be 
found only in proper education, bestowed on talents of the 
necessary strength and value. 



140 SCHOOLS OF CINCINNATI. 

"We have adverted to the folly of parents, in attempting to 
make physicians of children, neither qualified by nature, nor 
education. We are not surprised that the profession should 
be perpetually vexed by strife and animosity, when we call to 
mind how great is the multitude that have assumed the robe of 
Hippocrates, without any talent to enable them decently to 
sustain it. Society are perpetually reminding us of the follies 
and ignorance of the profession, and justly, from this cause. 
We are all aware that many decent ploughmen and carpen- 
ters have been spoiled from the creation of doctors. Yet we 
shall never be much better off, unless society will investigate 
the matter properly, and shut out from their confidence those 
who have nothing but sheer impudence to support their titles. 

" Those who are not as successful, or who cannot commend 
themselves by their address, are of necessity more or less mor- 
tified. All men are vain — professional men extravagantly so. 
He whose vanity is mortified feels either a strong disgust 
against the cause or the instrument of his humiliation. As it 
is not possible to show it towards the cause, or society, the 
rival, who is the instrument, must feel it; therefore coolness of 
manner towards him, pointed neglect or inattention, sneering 
when his name is mentioned, and a thousand actions expres- 
sive of such feelings, are performed. This reaches the ears of 
the rival. If he be a man of good feelings, he pities and is 
silent. If he be a man of sound policy, though he despises, he 
is still silent. Unfortunately, the irritated feelings of the 
injured are too often suffered to take the sway from the judg- 
ment, and he retaliates in some way or other, to the hurt of 
the individuals concerned and the profession at large." 

Dr. Drake, in relation to medical quarrels, said " it was the 
only profession which had no ultimate tribunal for the settle- 
ment of controversies. Clergymen, in all denominations, had 
some ecclesiastical tribunal; lawyers had their courts; me- 
chanics had their professional societies, but doctors had no 
ultimate tribunal — neither courts, nor assemblies, nor boards 
of ultimate authority. The consequence is, that they continu- 
ally appeal, in their difficulties, to the public, and this involves, 



MEDICAL COLLEGE OF OHIO. 141 

at once, personalities, recriminations, charges, and misrepresen- 
tations ; each of which stand on no other authority than that of 
the parties themselves, and each of which is believed or disbe- 
lieved by the different portions of the community. The result 
is, that medical quarrels are numerous, and occasion no small 
ill will and acerbity in the community." * 

A history of the Medical College of Ohio may, not inaptly, 
be styled a " history of the Thirty Years War," the details of 
which it would be neither pleasant nor profitable to relate. 

The College was founded by the exertions of the late emi- 
nent Doctor Daniel Drake, a man of most unwearying industry, 
of unconquerable zeal in behalf of his profession, and of sound 
judgment, and untiring research, respecting all matters con- 
nected therewith. 

In 1819, he made a personal application to the legislature, 
for leave to establish a Medical School in Cincinnati, and in 
compliance therewith, a law establishing the Medical College 
of Ohio, was enacted. The Faculty was, by the act of incor- 
poration, made the Board of Trustees — a great error, which 
there was little delay in discovering. Its sessions commenced 
in 1820, with a class of thirty pupils, and they have continued, 
to the present time, with classes varying from the above num- 
ber to upwards of two hundred. 

The members of the Faculty have always been men of 
acknowledged eminence in their profession; but there have been 
many changes made, by death, sickness, removal to other in- 
stitutions, and other causes, which have variously affected the 
prosperity of the College. It has always had a Faculty, hos- 
pital facilities, and other advantages, which ought to give it as 
high rank as any institution of the kind in the United States. 

The first Board of Trustees was created by an act of 13th 
December, 1822, and consisted of thirteen members; the sec- 
ond, consisting of seven, was instituted in February, 1825; the 
third, in December of the same year, of eleven members, which 
is the number of the present Board, instituted in 1851. 

* Mansfield's Memoir. 



142 SCHOOLS OF CINCINNATI. 

The first building for this Institution, was erected in 1826, on 
Sixth street, and was fifty-four feet in front, by thirty-six in 
depth. It was afterwards enlarged, but, being still too small, 
it was taken down, and the present splendid building erected 
on its site. This building has a front of one hundred and four 
feet, with ninety feet depth, and is five stories high, built in the 
Collegiate Gothic style, of the purest taste, without any of 
those studied specimens of contempt for symmetry, which our 
fashionable architects are raising up from the death they de- 
served — and suffered — at the period when good taste revived 
from its decline, during the dark ages. 

The internal arrangements furnish accommodations for pro- 
fessors and pupils, which are said, by persons competent to 
speak ex cathedra on the subject, to be unsurpassed, in extent 
of convenience, by any institution of the kind in the United 
States. 

The Board of Trustees, always anxious for the prosperity of 
the College — their only compensation for their labors in its 
behalf, being the hope of witnessing the beneficial influence of 
a most important public institution, with a consciousness of 
having aided its progress^ — have endeavored, not only to give 
it all the external advantages comprised in such a beautiful 
and convenient building, but also all the internal advantages 
that can be conferred by appointment to all the professional 
chairs of well qualified teachers, each eminent in his de- 
partment. 

A list of the Professors who have filled these chairs, would 
give the names of some of the most distinguished physicians 
and surgeons of our country. Many of them have been re- 
moved by death, and the names of Godman, Smith, Harrison, 
Shotwell, and Drake, will always be remembered with affec- 
tionate regret, for their removal from their sphere of usefulness ; 
and other names, which are now giving eminence to other 
institutions ; — and, in private practice, health to the suffering — 
are remembered with pride, as having once been connected with 
this College. 



MEDICAL COLLEGE OF OHIO. 143 

As in religion, new forms of heresy are constantly springing 
up, and requiring incessant watchfulness on the part of the 
wise and prudent, to prevent the spread of destructive errors ; 
so in medicine, new forms of quackery are continually invented, 
and the vigilance of the learned in the medical sciences is re- 
quired to be incessant, to guard the unwary and credulous 
against the delusive snares of unprincipled pretenders to such 
power over diseases as never has been bestowed on mere mor- 
tals. And the simple credulity which makes men believe the 
improbable, and even the impossible — as in the case of homcep- 
athy, for instance — is one of the attributes of ignorance, which 
schools of medicine are established to contend with, and to 
remedy to the extent to which science and industry will enable 
them to find the proper remedy. 

The world has produced no philosophers more profound — no 
investigators more acute and unwearied in their researches — no 
professors whose genius and talent were more brilliant, than those 
eminent men who have established the principles of medical sci- 
ence as now taught in its legitimate schools ; and who have given 
facilities for farther researches in quest of truths, which may be 
discovered to have influence on human health. And yet, igno- 
rant, shallow, pretenders, as distinguished for indolence, as the 
great teachers of medical science have been for industry, are 
still able to control the opinions of men, more intelligent than 
themselves, in relation to that most important subject, the 
means of restoring and preserving health. Even men of vir- 
tuous lives, who do not seek for aid to procure the means of 
reconcihng those irreconcilable things — vicious indulgences and 
good health — are often led astray by these artful imposters, who 
sell diseases under the name of remedies. 

The most numerous, however, of their victims, are those who 
are suffering the punishments of indolence, and vices of vari- 
ous kinds, and who purchase of quacks indulgences, which they 
imagine will relieve them from the purgatory into which their 
familiar demons have cast them. The miseries endured by 
these persons, seldom serve as warnings to the unwary, and the 
guardians of public health are continually required to repair 



144 SCHOOLS OF CINCINNATI. 

the wrongs which the thoughtless inflict on themselves, and 
which nature refuses to allow to go unpunished. 

The progress of the Medical College of Ohio, in diffusing 
a knowledge of those sciences, on which the healing art is 
founded, has been checked by various causes, to some of which 
we have alluded ; but notwithstanding such checks, that progress 
has been steadily onward, and with the able faculty it now 
posseses, it must continue that course. 



CHAPTER XVIII. 



MIAMI MEDICAL COLLEGE, 

AND OTHER SCHOOLS OF MEDICINE. 

Besides the Medical College of Ohio, there are, in Cincinnati, 
three other medical schools, a College of Dental Surgeons, and 
an institution denominated the Physo-Medical College. 

The Miami Medical College was established in 1852, not 
for the purpose of promulgating or supporting principles or 
doctrines different from those taught in the Medical College of 
Ohio, but with a view of honorable rivalry, excited, chiefly, 
from an idea that, in the appointment to Professorships in the 
last named institution, it had been too much the custom to look 
abroad for incumbents, to the neglect of the profession at home. 

A Board of Trustees, of eleven members, was constituted for 
the government of the College, by which a Faculty of eight Pro- 
fessors, with a Demonstrator, and a Prosector of Anatomy, was 
appointed. The members of the Faculty were all resident 
physicians and surgeons at the time of their appointment, and 
but two changes have been made in that body, one caused by 
the resignation (greatly regretted) of the Professor of Anatomy, 
and the other by the removal of the Professor of Chemistry 
from the city. Their circular of announcement for the ap- 
proaching session gives a list of sixty-four pupils at the last 
session, and seventeen graduates. It enumerates, among its 
advantages, the possession of the extensive museums of Dr. 
Mussey, and of the late Dr. Shotwell. 

The establishment of this institution being so recent, and it 
having had no " medical quarrels," its history, of course, must 
be very brief. The respectability of its Professors and Trustees 
19 



146 SCHOOLS OF CINCINNATI. 

gives it a standing among the schools of medicine in the West 
which will, undoubtedly, aid in preserving and elevating the 
dignity of the profession, and in guarding the public against the 
dangers of quackery, and against the introduction of the crude 
theories of fanciful enthusiasts, or ambitious setters forth of new 
doctrines, such as have not been subjected to the tests of wis- 
dom and experience, and such as have had a tendency to 
weaken the public confidence in the profession. 

This institution is situated on the corner of Fifth street and 
Western-row, and, on the next corner of the same block, is sit- 
uated the Cincinnati College of Medicine and Surgery, an in- 
stitution devoted to instruction in the regular medical sciences, 
in the usual manner. 

The Eclectic Medical Institute, chartered in 1845, is a school 
of medicine founded for the purpose of inculcating doctrines ^ 
diifering in some points from those of the other schools, but 
agreeing with them in others, selecting, as its title imports, 
from the theories of different promulgators of medical doctrines 
whatever its Faculty may prefer. 

We do not profess to understand the mysteries of the medical 
sciences, but we have supposed it to be not only the duty but 
the practice of all regular medical teachers, to be eclectic in 
their instructions : that is, to select from the experience of prac- 
titioners — from the researches of science — from the experiments 
of philosophers — and from every other source within their reach, 
all those principles and truths applicable to the healing art, 
that can, in any way, be made available for the promotion of 
the physical and mental health of mankind. We cannot sup- 
pose any other system of medical instruction to be founded on 
correct principles. 

This institution has seven professorships, viz : Anatomy, 
Physiology and Institutes of Medicine, Materia Medica and 
Therapeutics, Surgery, Obstetrics, and Chemistry and Phar- 
macy. 

The Ohio Dental College was chartered in 1848, and has 
four professorships, viz : the Principles and Practice of Dental 
Surgery, Pathology and Therapeutics, Anatomy and Physiology 



MIAMI MEDICAL COLLEGE. 147 

and Operative Mechanical Dentistry. The institution is situ- 
ated on College street, near the Medical College of Ohio, and 
one or more of the chairs have generally been filled by profes- 
sors in the latter institution. 

The Physo-Medical College is located in the Cincinnati Col- 
lege Building, and is understood to be devoted to the inculca- 
tion of, what is called, the Botanical System of Medicine. 



CHAPTER XIX. 



HISTORICAL SOCIETIES, 

The Cincinnati Historical Society was organized in August, 
1844. Its objects were similar to those of the other His- 
torical Societies of our country, and they are beautifully ex- 
pressed in the motto to their annals : " To gather from the 
still living witnesses, and preserve for the future annalist, the 
important records of the teeming and romantic Past ; to seize, 
while yet warm and glowing, and inscribe upon the pages 
which shall be sought hereafter, the bright visions of song, and 
fair images of story, that gild the gloom, and lighten the sor- 
rows, of the ever fleeting Present ; to search all history with a 
steady eye, sound all philosophy with a careful hand, question 
all experience with a fearless tongue ; and thence draw lessons 
to fit us for, and light to guide us through, the shadowed but 
unknown future !" 

A circular was immediately published and addressed to such 
individuals as were known to be capable of forwarding the views 
of the Society, soliciting, and stating as specially wanted, facts 
respecting " the Indian race, 'race of the mounds ;' and manu- 
scripts of a historical or biographical character ; newspapers, 
or scraps of newspapers, containing striking personal incidents, 
or narrations ; letters, or copies of letters, of the same kind; 
the stories of pioneers, reduced to writing ; the first settlement 
of your town; when it took place, whence came the emigrants, 
what peculiar circumstances attended the location ; your first 
churches, schools, mills, court house ; notices of prominent 
settlers, deceased; of the hardships and dangers theyunderwent." 

These, it will be readily admitted, were judicious and proper 
subjects ; and it is particularly desirable that a proper attention 
should be paid to them ; for, in no country but ours, can the 
truths of its early history be obtained ; and, if history ia to be 



HISTORICAL BOCIETIES. 149 

made " philosophy teaching by example," there is nothing more 
important than accounts of the first settlement of any country; 
of the motives that induced emigration to do it ; of the diffi- 
culties that attended its first settlement, and the means by 
which they were overcome ; and of the institutions established, 
in the order of their foundation, with their progress, and causes 
of the prosperity or decline which may have attended them. 
Most of these subjects are, in the histories of the Western 
States, within the memories of men now living, and should be 
recorded for the benefit of posterity. 

" The Ohio Historical Society was incorporated in 1822. It 
accomplished but little, and in 1831 the Historical and Philo- 
sophical Society was created. The annual meetings of its mem- 
bers at the seat of government have been interesting, and use- 
ful collections of books, manuscripts, &c., have been made. A 
volume of their Transactions have been published, containing, 
amongst other valuable papers, the letters of our venerable and 
highly esteemed fellow-citizen, Judge Burnet. The Logan 
Historical Society dates its existence on the 28th of July, 1841, 
formed by ' pioneers, and citizens of the Scioto valley.' Their 
objects were — to erect a monument to the memory of Logan, 
' to secure from oblivion, and preserve for posterity, all that is, 
or can be, well authenticated of aboriginal history — of the un- 
published history of our early and successive western settle- 
ments, and, as collateral therewith, of all North America.' Two 
very interesting and useful volumes of their collections have 
been published by their enterprising and indefatigable Secre- 
tary, John S. Williams, Esq. 

"On the 24th of November, 1841, the Marietta Historical As- 
sociation was formed, expressing the hope to do its share in the 
preparation for western history. About the same time was 
created the Historical and Geological Society of Norwalk Sem- 
inary, with a view ' to collect facts and incidents relative to the 
early history of Ohio.' The Historical Society of Ashtabula 
county, Ohio, is also in active operation, and has collected many 
valuable papers."* 

•Judge Este's Address. 



150 SCHOOLS OF CINCINNATI. 

The Cincinnati Historical Society, in 1848, published "Pi- 
oneer History ; being an account of the first examinations of 
the Ohio valley, and the early settlement of the North-West 
Territory;" by S. P. Hildreth ; and in 1852, by the same au- 
thor, " Biographical and Historical Memoirs of the Early Pio- 
neer Settlers of Ohio ; with narratives of incidents and occur- 
rences in 1775." In the preface, by E. D. Mansfield, President 
of the Society, it is stated that the work contains biographies of 
men, among whom " are some names celebrated in American 
history, whose active life commenced amid the most stirring 
events of the Revolution, and whose evening days were finished 
amid the fresh and forest scenes of a new and rising State. So 
various and eventful lives as theirs have seldom fallen to the 
lot of man. They were born under a monarchy — fought the 
battle of independence — assisted in the baptism of a great re- 
public — then moved into a wilderness, and laid the foundations 
of a State — itself almost equaling an empire. These men not 
only lived in remarkable times, but were themselves remarkable 
men. Energetic, industrious, persevering, honest, bold, and free 
— they were limited in their achievements only by the limits of 
possibility. Successful alike in field and forest, they have, at 
length, gone to their rest, leaving names which are a part of the 
fame and the history of our country." 

"Among the biographies of such men will also be found no- 
tices of some women, whose characters deserve to be perpetua- 
ted among the memories of the State." 

The first volume of the Transactions of the Historical and 
Philosophical Society of Ohio, was published in 1839, and con- 
tained Burnet's " Letters relating to the Early Settlement of the 
North- Western Territory." Walker's Annual Discourse, deliv- 
ered in Columbus, in 1837 ; General Harrison's Discourse on the 
Aborigines of the Valley of the Ohio; Perkins' Discourse, and 
Worthington's " Essay on the Origin and Progress of Political 
Communities," with a Fragment of the Early History of the 
State of Ohio, by A. H. Nye. 

This volume was soon out of print, but it excited so much 
desire for information respecting the early history of this region 



HISTORICAL SOCIETIES. 151 

that Judge Burnet was induced to revise, make important 
additions, and thereby increase greatly the value of his letters. 
Under the auspices of the Historical Society, he published a 
volume of five hundred pages, with the title of " Notes on the 
Early Settlement of the North- Western Territory." 

General Harrison's Discourse was published in a pamphlet, 
and gave testimony to the talents of the author of more value, 
to the judicious and reflecting portion of the community, than 
the fame of his military successes, on which his nomination, 
as candidate for the Presidenc}^ had been founded. It contains 
the most satisfactory and probable suggestions in relation to 
the history of the " race of the mounds," that have been given; 
and though they throw very little light on the small portion of 
the history of that race to which they refer, they are valuable 
as inferences of a sagacious observer from the few circum- 
stances that afford light on that sulyect. The eloquent address 
of Wm. D. Gallagher, was published in 1850, and is among the 
most able of occasional discourses. 

A volume, containing " Biographical sketches of some of 
the early settlers of Ohio," by John W. Campbell, was pub- 
lished by his widow, in 1838. It contains accounts of the 
author, by a friend, and of Rufus Putnam, William A. Trimble, 
Paul Fearing, Return J, Meigs, J. Meigs, and George W. Bur- 
net, early settlers. It gives an account of the Girtys, who ac- 
quired an eminence in infamy by becoming the most savage, 
remorseless, and cruel of the savages, by whom they were 
adopted, and for whose manners and habits they abandoned 
those of civilization. It contains, also, an account of the cap- 
ture by the savages, and escape from captivity, of Mrs. Tackett, 
one of those narratives of " breathless interest," of the dangers 
and sufferings to which the early settlers of the West were ex- 
posed, many of which are given in the " Great West," by Henry 
Howe, and in the Historical Collections of Ohio, by the same 
author. McClung's " Shetches of Western Adventure;" Dodd- 
ridges Notes ; McAfFee's History ; Metcalfe's Narratives ; and 
other works of the same nature contain, also, many accounts of 
the suffering, and of death, and torture by some, and of hair- 
breadth escapes by others, of the pioneers of the West. 



152 SCHOOLS OP CINCINNATI. 

Judge Hall's Letters from the West, published first in the 
Port-Folio, and afterwards in a separate work, was among the 
earliest acpounts of this country after the period of its peaceful 
settlement, and when freedom from danger of the Indians had 
become established. His various works of fiction contain 
graphic and remarkably correct delineations of manners and 
habits, and give a better idea of the state of society in the 
West, during the early periods of its history, than has been 
given in any other form. 

The union of the Ohio Historical and Philosophical Society 
with the Cincinnati Historical Society, by which the former was 
removed to this city, in 1849, was a very judicious measure and 
gave stimulus to the united institution, which was needed, and 
which will, undoubtedly, make it permanent and successful. It 
possesses a great amount of material for the history of this and 
other Western States, which are now accessible to all by whom 
they can be made useful. The Report of the Society for 1849, 
states, that about the commencement of that year, " the Society, 
with its books and archives, was removed from Columbus to Cin- 
cinnati, in order to form a union with the Historical Society of 
Cincinnati, which would prove materially advantageous, and 
advance the design and objects of both. An accession to the li- 
brary of about four hundred volumes, was thereby obtained — 
about two hundred of which are rare works, and of considerable 
historic value. As the pecuniary resources of the Society are 
limited in extent, few additions to the stock of books can be 
made by purchase : the collection has, consequently, been 
made up principally by donation. Nearly one hundred volumes 
have been received during the past year, among which we may 
mention: Ancient Monuments of the Mississippi Valley, from 
the Smithsonian Institute ; four volumes " Antiquitates Ameri- 
cansB, from the Society of Northern Antiquaries, Stockholm, 
and seven volumes of their Transactions ; Bertram's pilgrimage 
in Europe and America, leading to the discovery of the sources 
of the Mississippi and Bloody rivers ; History of the Jesuit 
Missions in the Mississippi Valley ; twenty-nine volumes Ex- 
ecutive and Congressional Documents, from the State Depart- 



HISTORICAL SOCIETIES. 153 

ment at Washington, with numerous other valuable contribu- 
tions." Since that period, Mr. George T. Williamson has made 
to the Society a donation of Lord Kingsborough's splendid 
work on Mexican Antiquities ; a number of valuable works 
have also been presented by Mr. Peter Force, of Washington 
City; and all the publications of the Smithsonian Institute, with 
those by the Government, have been added, with many other 
books, to the library of the Society. 

The library of the New England Society was, on the dissolu- 
tion of that body, deposited with that of this Society, in which 
most of its books are peculiarly appropriate; and thus, although 
the collection is not large, it forms a valuable addition to the 
Historical library. 

The meetings of the Society are held weekly, during the 
winter and spring season, and have been generally interesting. 
Many valuable papers have been contributed by the members, 
which have been read at these meetings, and it is hoped that 
the Society may be enabled to publish some of them. 

More than thirty years ago, John H. James (now of Urbana) 
commenced making a collection of materials for a history of 
Ohio, which he proposed to write, and of which he did write 
some chapters; but he has not prepared the work for publica- 
tion, though its issue, we trust, is not abandoned, but only post- 
poned. 

"A Sketch of the History of Ohio, by Salmon P. Chase," 
was published in 1833, as an introduction to a new edition of 
the "Statutes of Ohio." A number of copies were also 
printed in a pamphlet of forty pages. 

The first volume of a history of Ohio, by James D. Taylor, 
has lately been published, containing accounts of the early 
times of the State to the year 1787. 

In 1847, James R. Albach pubUshed "Annals of the West," 
by James H. Perkins, a volume of about six hundred pages, 
giving an account of the most important events in the history 
of the Western States and Territories, from the discovery of 
the Mississippi Valley to the year 1845. 
20 



154 SCHOOLS OF CINCINNATI. 

Many small volumes and pamphlets, relating to Western 
history, have been published, at different times, most of which 
are to be found in the library of the Society, and with these, 
and files of newspapers, and the larger works, the historian of 
this region may be enabled to give historical details of more 
unquestionable correctness than can be given in relation to 
any country but our own. 

It is pleasing to note, in our recently established Western 
States, an early attention to the collection and preservation of 
materials for their history. The Historical Society of Wiscon- 
sin was one of the early institutions of that State; and the 
Minnesota Historical Society, established at St. Paul, in 1850, 
was another honorable instance of early attention to such 
objects as tend to elevate the character of a State. It issued, 
in that year, the first part of a volume of "Annals," containing 
many articles of great interest. Its proceedings seem to have 
been characterized by that energy and rapidity of progress 
which mark all the advances of that rapidly improving region. 
This first publication contained a valuable sketch of Western 
history, in an address by Rev. Edward D. Neil, with the con- 
stitution and by-laws of the Society; and, in 1851, a second 
part of its "Annals" was published, containing further histori- 
cal details, equally interesting, in an address by Gov. A. Ram- 
sey, President, and in the first annual report of G. K. Smith, 
Secretary of the Society. Very valuable statistical details are 
also given in relation to the Indian tribes, the geography, the 
natural history, and other matters of interest in that region. 
Among them, the details of proceedings in respect to the estab- 
lishment of common schools give promise that the young State 
of Minnesota will not be excelled by any of her sister States 
in her progress towards the highest point of civilization, and 
that the state of society within her boundaries will give an 
example how soon that point may be attained by a State, when 
wisdom and virtue direct the foundations of her earliest insti- 
tutions. 

The usefulness of such historical societies, when they hold 
regular meetings, at which papers are read and discussions 



HISTORICAL SOCIETIES. 155 

held, are so manifest, and so great, that it is a matter of regret 
that they should, in most cases, be suffered to languish for want 
of funds. A suitable endowment for the Ohio Historical and 
Philosophical Society is so great a desideratum, that we hope 
some of our liberal and wealthy citizens may be induced to 
bestow a portion of their 'surplus wealth on so worthy an 
object. The room, in the College building, devoted to its 
library and its meetings, is spacious and convenient, and the 
meetings which have been held there have generally been 
remarkably interesting. Such a society, however, ought to 
possess a building of its own, and to be enabled to devote 
attention to the natural histor}^ of this. region, as well as to its 
civil and political history; and, for this purpose, a museum, in 
which could be found all the specimens necessary for its illus- 
tration, would seem to be an important requisite. Let us hope 
that our State may order a resumption of its geological survey, 
in which case this department of its history may be better 
understood, and its resources thereby be in a state of more 
speedy development. 

Military, civil, religious, political, and social history, are 
naturally connected, (though the last-named department has 
seldom received much of the attention of historians,) but natu- 
ral history has generally been considered as the department 
of another class of minds ; and it undoubtedly requires higher 
talents and more extensive knowledge to combine all these dif- 
ferent departments in one work than to treat them separately. 

The importance of a historical society, or rather one of its 
most important benefits, consists in bringing together and pre- 
paring for use, the different materials for the various depart- 
ments of histor}' ; and the genius and talents of the historian 
are displayed in arranging them together in such form and 
order as to convey, not only a knowledge of the truths of 
history, but to convey it in such a style and manner as to 
cause the combinations to be perceived, as well as their influ- 
ences on each other, together with their proper inferences; 
thus affording those instructions which ought always to be 
derived from history. 



156 SCHOOLS OF CINCINNATI. 

Ancient history is almost exclusively military and political, 
the latter being rather an inference than a constituent ; and its 
value is comparatively small, more especially as its authority 
can never be relied on. Indeed, the early histories of most 
nations being poetry, and poetic license being liberty to mix 
figments of fancy with facts, they cannot be considered as 
history, in the modern sense of the term. 

Modern historians, besides having a wider field for observa- 
tion and record, have subjects of history that the ancients did 
not occupy; and histories of inventions, of literature, of phi- 
losophy, of civilization, and of many other matters,* have 
been separated from the province of general history, because, 
in some cases, they have not been treated with proper respect 
by it, and in others, because they are considered as of too high 
lineage to be allowed to associate with the vulgar subjects of 
history. f 

The historians of our own country have, within a compara- 
tively recent period, taken a very high rank among authors of 
their class, and there are none that excel Prescott, Irving and 
Bancroft in beauty of style, connected with the higher quali- 
ties which give history its chief value. Pitkin and Hildreth, 
although not so distinguished for excellence in style, are excel- 
lent historians, giving their statements judiciously, and only 
such as may be relied on implicitly ; and their deductions are 
sound and philosophical. Nearly all the States of our Union 
have had their historians, some of whose works possess great 
merit. We have, besides, histories of towns and counties, 
which are not only valuable to the limited districts for which 
they were written, but are useful to the philosophic historian, 
by enabling him to look more closely into the operations of 



* Ticknor's "History of Spanish Literature," and "Elliott's History of Roman 
Liberty," are favorable specimens of this class of writings. 

t " Peters' History of Connecticut," "Abbott's History of Napoleon Buonaparte," 
and the " History of the Devil, ancient and modern," are not considered good authority 
as histories, though they may be amusing as works of fiction. We have many other 
works of fiction, which assume the title of histories, but they do not deceive many. 



HISTORICAL SOCIETIES. 157 

obscure events, and to notice their influences, which are often 
important. 

The Pictorial History of Great Britain assumes to be "a. 
history of the people, as well as of the kingdom" — a method of 
writing history, the importance of which is a modern discovery; 
and it is not a little extraordinary that it should not have been 
earlier discovered that the interest we feel in the fate of 
nations would be enhanced by glimpses of the lives, manners, 
habits, and customs of common people — of the individuals and 
families of which those nations are composed. Shakespeare 
and Walter Scott give such glimpses, in works of fiction, and 
although they do not intend to have it believed that the occur- 
rences, in private life, of which they give accounts, actually 
took place, yet the feeling that such circumstances, through the 
influence of public events, might have occurred at the periods 
when the greater events that are recorded by historians actually 
did occur, and the interest we feel in them, are proofs that if 
history should descend somewhat from its dignity, and its stilts, 
it would better fulfill its assumption of being philosophy teach- 
ing by example. The Pictorial History of England and 
Macaulay's history, are as much superior to Hume's and Hal- 
lam's, in the power to interest ordinary readers, as these last 
are to Blackstone's Commentaries. 

The early histories of the Western States are comprised in 
the biographies of such men as Boone, Kenton, Smith, and 
other pioneers ; and the progress of society, traced from their 
adventures, through the foundation of stations, of towns, of 
territories and States, of institutions, of laws, and of govern- 
ments, form a much more useful study than the fables which 
constitute the early history of other nations. A judicious 
selection from the materials which can be gathered from the 
various accounts of public events and private adventure, will 
give us true history, which the record of wars and court 
intrigues, of diplomacy and conquest, cannot give, because they 
are but a portion of the events which interest mankind. But 
it requires a high order of talents in a historian to write a 
history which shall be " of the people, as well as the nation" — 



158 SCHOOLS OF CINCINNATI. 

to discover and exhibit intelligibly those small causes of great 
events which are generally overlooked, through the very im- 
portance of their results, from the idea that only great causes 
ever produce great effects ; and to draw from them those lessons 
of instruction which give to history its principal value. 

The superior attractions of biography to history, in the 
minds of the young, and of fictitious biography — novels espe- 
cially — to any other class of reading, arises from their detail 
of events which affect persons in every station in life, and 
which are selected by the instinct of genius, and related in that 
style and manner that give them an air of truthfulness, and 
thereby excite the sympathies of the reader. These sympa- 
thies may be excited by the historian, if he has the means of 
choosing, and the good taste and judgment to choose, such 
events as those in which historical personages display their 
characters in private life, and the genius to narrate them 
without too much circumstance, or too little appreciation of 
their influence. 

The early events of Western history are as attractive and 
interesting in their nature as the fictions of the novelists of the 
highest order of talents ; and the genius which can give the 
accounts of them as they ought to be given, would be better 
employed, and obtain a better fame, b}'^ so doing, than by the 
production of fictions, even if they should rival in attractive 
interest those of Scott. 

As above remarked, the early history of the West, is the 
biography of its pioneers, and, notwithstanding most of them 
were men, whose stations in life were not so exalted as to have 
attracted much public attention to their actions, yet a record 
of their lives might afford more useful lessons for contempla- 
tion, than those of many in higher stations, and whose achieve- 
ments were more brilliant. And it is a duty we owe to them, 
to ourselves, and to posterity, to preserve their memory beyond 
the lives of those who have witnessed their virtues. The Wes- 
tern country has seen termination of many a life, which 
has been distinguished by extraordinary vicissitudes and 
trials, by the display of firmness and courage, in bearing up 



HISTORICAL SOCIETIES. 159 

against misfortune, and contented resignation to an old age of 
poverty and obscurity, after a life of toil and danger — whose 
history will be particularly useful to us — 

" •If it declare, 

How they have borne the load ourselves are doomed to bear." 

The volume of " The Lives of the Early Settlers of Ohio," 
by Dr. Hiklreth, already published by the society, we hope will 
not be the only one devoted to the preservation of the memory 
of the pioneers of the West, but that it will be enabled, here- 
after, to give to the public, a series of the lives of those to whom 
the citizens of the West are indebted for many of the blessings 
they enjoy ; who, by becoming the pioneers of the wilderness, 
became the benefactors of the present inhabitants of the land 
in which we dwell. That a most lively interest will be felt in 
all that concerns the particular part of the country where we are 
situated, is a matter of course, and many circumstances possess 
an interest, when connected with things familiar to our observa- 
tion, that they would not have, if connected with the lives of men 
much more eminent and distinguished, but who lived in a dis- 
tant age, or in a foreign land. Though our judgments may be 
likely to be swayed by the partialities of friendship or kindred, 
yet, on the other hand, our knowledge is likely to be more ac- 
curate, and the characteristics peculiar to the early settlers of 
our country, may be more easily caught and embodied, a cir- 
cumstance worthy of consideration, more for the sake of those 
who are to succeed us, than the present generation. It cannot 
be supposed that tllere are any of the early settlers of this 
country, whose lives are barren of incident, but there may be 
those whose vices form the reason for the variety in the inci- 
dents of their lives — of these, let the memory perish. Let us 
rather exhibit examples that deserve to be followed, than such 
as can only be displayed, to be avoided. 

" The American Pioneer, a Monthly Periodical, devoted to 
the Logan Historical Society," edited and published by John S. 
WilUams, at Chillicothe, was commenced in January, 1842, 
and continued till October, 1843, and contains a great variety 



160 SCHOOLS OF CINCINNATI. 

of exceedingly interesting information in relation to the early 
periods of the history of these Western Regions. 

Many of those traits of character which distinguished the 
pioneers, as well as their savage foes, are there preserved ; and 
are already curious and interesting, as accounts of a former 
state of society, such as we of the present day find it difficult 
to consider as realities. The events detailed in many of the 
narratives are so extraordinary, that the truth seems really 
stranger than fiction, and we can hardly conceive it possible 
that such circumstances could have existed at so recent a period, 
in this region, which now exhibits all the marks of high civil- 
ization. 

Professor Rafinesque, of the Transylvania University, at 
Lexington, Kentucky, thirty years ago, proposed to write the 
" Ancient History of Kentucky and North America," and to 
solve some very recondite problems, such as — 

"1. Who were the first inhabitants of America? 

" They came from North Africa, Europe, and Hindoostan, 
soon after the foundation of the Eastern empires. 

" 2. Who were the ancestors of the Mexican race ? 

" This query, which has been pronounced by the Edinburg 
Review, one of the most important and obscure, is now nearly 
solved. 

" They sprung from a Caucasian nation, the ancient Tulans, 
and Istakans, whose Asiatic tribes still exist under the names 
of Asibans, or Abassans, Attikeseks, &c. 

" 3. Who built our ancient monuments ? 

" The Tlascalans, Talegans, Apalachians,01mecas, Toltecas, 
Natchez, &c., and the most modern were raised by the Shaw- 
nees, Ottawas, Panis, &c." 

We believe, however, that the professor was not encouraged 
to publish his history ; the authenticity of his authorities being 
very little relied on. Imagination and fancy, it was supposed, 
would be those from which most of his facts would be derived ; 
and, although many historians place great reliance on such 
authorities, they find it necessary to cover them over, or sup- 
port them by names which have gained more or less reputation, 



HISTORICAL SOCIETIES. 161 

and by reference to works which may be examined. Philolog- 
ical investigations were relied on for many facts and inferences, 
and the ancient monuments of Ohio, Kentucky, and other 
Western States, for many more. In relation to them, he says: 

" A time may come, when such labors may be deemed highly 
important ; when discoveries will become rare, because previ- 
ously anticipated ; and then our pyramids and monuments will 
be visited like those of Egypt. 

" That will happen when we shall have an ancient history of 
America, for which the materials are near us ; when we shall 
imitate the best late historians, who no longer begin the history 
of Italy with Romulus, nor of Greece with Inachus, but dive 
into the earliest records of time. Then the history of America 
will no longer begin with Columbus, but ascend to the powerful 
Empires and Nations of Anahuac, Muyscas, Peru, Araucans, 
Chiapa, Cholula, Tula, Hayata, Apalachians, Tlascalans, Tal- 
egans, Natchez, &c., which have successively flourished for 
ages in our Hemisphere." 

The natural history of this region, received from Professor 
Rafinesque many valuable contributions, and the accounts 
published by him, in different periodicals, and in a pamphlet 
of discoveries in various departments of this science, are wor- 
thy of more attention than they have received, and prove him 
to be entitled to credit for various discoveries which others have 
appropriated. 

The desideratum of a history of the ancient races of this 
country, will probably never be supplied. The most that we 
can hope for, must be themes for conjecture. Our mounds 
furnish no hieroglyphics to task the powers of Champollions 
to decipher, and the traditions of our Indians cannot be woven 
into history. 

To the American historian, Grimke's " Considerations on the 
Nature and Tendency of Free Institutions," is a particularly 
valuable work. As a philosophical treatise, it is far superior 
to Lord Brougham's work, for which a high rank was assumed, 
but which is so superficial and commonplace, that if ithad'been 
published without a great name to give it currency, it would 
21 



162 SCHOOLS OF CINCINNATI* 

scarcely have been known on this side of the Atlantic. Politi- 
cal histories are more interesting to Americans than to any 
other people. Pitkin's is the highest in this class of histories, 
and it was the first example of a history in which war was not 
the principal, or, at least, a very important ingredient, and it 
is more instructive, on that account, to a nation of politicians — 
of whom a majority requires to be far more deeply imbued 
with political knowledge than they are at present, in order to 
save the nation from such disgraces as those which ignorant 
politicians have brought upon the State of Ohio* 



CHAPTER XX, 



THE BAPTIST THEOLOGICAL INSTITUTION, 

The late Mr. Ephraim Robins, of this city, in 1832, suggested 
to the leading members of the Baptist denomination, to which 
he belonged, the expediency of establishing a seminary for the 
education of young men for the ministry in that denomination, 
here, in the West, where they are wanted, and where a more 
learned body of them was considered necessary, since all other 
Protestant denominations were increasing their requirements in 
respect to the learning of their teachers. No rational man 
could maintain that sound learning — knowledge of the lan- 
guages in which our sacred books are written, of the history of 
those books, and of the circumstances that prove their authen- 
ticity, with the rules of interpretation, and methods to aid in 
the correct comprehension of their doctrines — could fail to be 
useful to religious instructors. The few exceptions of fanatics, 
who consider that human learning is an obstacle in the path of 
religious teachers, and that they ought to depend solely on their 
English bibles and immediate inspiration, constitute, at present, 
a class so much smaller than it did formerly, that it has ceased 
to have any weight in any religious denomination. 

It was determined, therefore, that a Theological Seminary 
was needed; and that it was needed in the West, because of 
the greater simplicity of habits and modes of life here, which 
ought to be preserved by their religious teachers ; and which 
would, if pupils were sent abroad, where more luxurious or less 
simple habits of life prevailed, render them less contented in 
the stations to which they might be called, and therefore less 
useful. 



164 SCHOOLS OF CINCINNATI. 

It was determined, also, that a committee should be appointed 
to examine such points as might be considered suitable for the 
location of the proposed institution, and select the one which 
offered the greatest advantages. 

This committee, consisting of J. Going and E. Robins, after 
due examination of all the the sites supposed to be peculiarly 
suitable, and comparing all the capabilities of each, in relation 
to their influences on the proposed institution, selected a site at 
Covington, Kentucky, opposite Cincinnati, to which they gave 
the preference, for several good and substantial reasons. Among 
them, the prospect that by the purchase of a considerable tract 
of land, adjoining that city, and building their college thereon, 
they would aid in causing a rise in the value of their property, 
which the natural increase of the city would also aid ; and 
thereby obtain an important addition to their endowment, which 
would otherwise be dependant on private donations. Other 
considerations, such as convenience of access, proximity to 
many important towns, &;c., had their weight, and that locality 
was determined on, A considerable tract — about two hundred 
and fifty acres — was purchased, of which, however, three- 
fourths was sold, leaving ninety acres for the purposes of the 
institution. Some additional purchases were made afterwards, 
and the profits gained by the rise in value of their grounds 
created an endowment of $150,000 to the institution, which 
was organized as soon as suitable buildings could be erected, 
and was in successful operation for many years. 

Unfortunately, however, for the permanent prosperity of the 
institution, the slavery question became a portion of every 
question of politics, morals, and religion, and was an apple of 
discord wherever it was thrown. During the lifetime of Mr. 
Robins, his conciliatory spirit, combined with the influence of 
his efforts and desires for the progress of the institution, directed 
by the purest motives, restrained the parties on each side of 
the question from maintaining such strongly opposing senti- 
ments as to be unable to co-operate in peace and harmony. 
But, after his death, the breach becoming constantly wider, 
it wa^ judged that the objects of the institution would best be 



BAPTIST THEOLOGICAL INSTITUTION. 165 

promoted by a division of its property, and the adoption of two 
seperate seminaries. 

In consequence, the estabhshment at Covington was aban- 
doned, and two others founded — the one at Georgetown, Ky., 
the other at Fairmount, Cincinnati. 

" The Fairmount Theological Seminary is situated within ten 
acres of ground reserved for its use by the Trustees, one hundred 
and thirty rods north-west from the corporate limits of Cincin- 
nati. The site is recommended by its healthfulness, and is 
unsurpassed in the beauty of its scenery, overlooking the cities 
of Cincinnati, Covington, and Newport, and commanding an 
extensive view, in all directions, of the surrounding country. 
The Seminary building, erected at a cost of $20,000, is four 
stories high above the basement, one hundred and twelve feet 
in length, and fifty-four feet in its greatest breadth, and sur- 
mounted by an observatory. It contains a chapel, forty-four 
by forty-one feet ; a reading room ; lecture rooms and study 
rooms, with separate and lighted dormitories attached, for the 
accommodation of the students." 

The library formerly belonging to the Institute at Covington, 
has been transferred to this Seminary, and, with other collec- 
tions, constitutes a well selected library of four thousand vol- 
umes, well adapted to the wants of the institution. There is, 
also, a reading room, supplied with the valuable religious 
journals of the day, open to the students and friends of the 
Seminary. 

The course of instruction adopted in the institution will be 
understood by the statement of the studies which occupy the 
two classes, and, in the Catalogue of 1854-5, it is stated as 
follows : 

" The studies of the Junior Class have been — 

" In Hebrew, one daily exercise during five months, and a 
weekly exercise, during the remainder of the year, have been 
devoted to an examination of the elements and principles of 
the language — Gesenius' Hebrew Grammar being chiefly used as 
a text book — and to the critical reading of several chapters in 
the Hebrew Bible. 



166 SCHOOLS OF CINCINNATI, 

" In the department of Biblical Interpretation, two daily 
exercises have been had during the year, embracing a course 
of lectures and recitations on the following subjects : 

" The principles of interpretation, in their application to the 
various kinds of composition adopted by the sacred writers ; 
with criticisms on the notes of Ernesti, Carson, and others — 
together with an examination of the general character of the 
sacred writings. 

" In the new testament, the Greek of the New Testament 
— the Chronology and History of the Acts of the Apostles — a 
particular introduction to each of the Gospels with respect to 
special design, style, manner of narrating facts, etc. — and 
to each of the Epistles of Paul with respect to occasion 
and circumstances of composition, design, contents, etc. — ' 
an examination of the Gospels in harmony, with an expo- 
sition of important passages selected from each — and extended 
exegetical examination of the epistles to the Romans, with a 
general exposition of the epistle of James, and the epistle to 
Galatians. 

" In the old testament, the history of the Hebrew language 
in the different stages of its development — the Chronology and 
History of the Israelitish nation^ — an introduction to each of 
the prophetical books — with an exposition of the first chapter 
of Genesis, several of the Messianic Psalms, and passages 
selected from Isaiah, Jeremiah, Uaniel, Zachariah, and Mal- 
achi. 

" In Ecclesiastical History, lectures have been delivered and 
recitations had on the state of the Church, external and inter- 
nal, during the first four centuries. In the instruction in this 
department the method adopted in the text books, by which 
the events or facts pertaining to each century, or particular 
period, are considered by themselves, has not been adhered to. 
After an examination of the external history of the Church in 
its relations to the Roman government, and of the authorities 
to be relied on for testimony, the facts relating to each usage 
or opinion have, in connection with passing allusions to their 
cotemporaneous relations, been traced on separately and 



BAPTIST THEOLOGICAL INSTITUTION. 167 

uninterruptedly from the apostolic age to the close of the fourth 
century. 

SENIOR CLASS. 

" The studies of the Senior Class have been as follows : 

" In Theology, daily lectures have been delivered on the fol- 
lowing subjects : 

" The Importance of Theology and divisions of the subject — ■ 
Sources of theological knowledge — Nature and sources of evi- 
dence — Characteristic properties of mind and matter. 

" Proofs of the existence of God, metaphysical and general — 
Evidences of Divine Revelation, including an examination into 
the Genuineness of the sacred writings — their Credibility — 
Credibility of the Christian miracles — Evidence from prophecy 
— and the Inspirations of the Scriptures. 

" Attributes of God — His Eternity, Spirituality, Power, Omnis- 
cience, Wisdom, Goodness, Holiness, Truth, Immutability. 

" Creation and primitive state of Man, and his relations to his 
posterity — The Fall and its consequences — Present condition 
of Man — His relation to the government of God — The doctrine 
of Human Depravity — Nature and desert of sin — Necessity of 
a remedial scheme, and the purpose of God respecting it. 

" The Agency involved in the work of redemption — Doctrine of 
Christ's Humanity — His Divinity — Union of the two natures in 
one person — Personality and Divinity of the Holy Spirit — Gen- 
eral doctrine of the Trinity. 

*' The Work of Christ — His vicarious sacrifice, with the 
general doctrine of the Atonement, its nature, its design, its 
extent — The Obedience of Christ — His Resurrection — Exal- 
tation, Intercession, and the relation of each to the work of 
redemption. 

" The Work of redemption in its relation to the experience of 
the believer — The doctrine of the Regeneration, of Faith, of 
Repentance, and their relation to each other — The believer's 
union with Christ — His justification — Adoption — Growth and 
perfection in holiness — Perseverence in the state of Grace — 
Reception to heaven at death — Resurrection of the body — 
Final state. 



168 SCHOOLS OF CINCINNATI. 

" Judgment and Destiny of the wicked, and the general doc- 
trine of Future Punishment. 

" The Kingdom of Christ — Its relation to the Patriarchal and 
Mosaic dispensations — Its ultimate extension throughout the 
earth — Its termination on earth, or the second coming of Christ 
— His Kingdom in its internal nature and membership — Its ex- 
ternal organization, or the Christian Church — Its membership 
— Its general polity and government — the office of the ministry 
— The Ordinances of the gospel — Baptism, its design, subjects, 
form — The Lord's supper, its design, and prerequisites — The 
Christian Sabbath. 

"Each of these subjects has been discussed by means of 
written lectures, accompanied by oral remarks and illustrations, 
and daily reviews and recitations on the part of the class. In 
one part of the course recitations were also had in Paley's 
Natural Theology, parts of Butler's Analogy, and Wilson's 
Evidences of Christianity. 

" In Homiletics and Pastoral Duties, a course of daily exer- 
cises has been had, conducted partly by means of oral and 
written lectures, and partly by recitations in Porter's Lectures 
on Homiletics and Pulpit Eloquence, and Vinet's Pastoral 
Theology. 

*' In Biblical Interpretations, the argumentative portion of 
the epistle to the Galatians has been examined — parts of the 
Gospels in harmony, and several of the Messianic prophecies. 

" A Weekly Exercise has also been had during a greater 
part of the year with members of both classes in the reading 
and criticism of Sermons and plans of sermons, and in Elocu- 
tion with special reference to exercises of the pulpit. 

PKEPARATORY DEPARTMENT. 

" The members of the Preparatory Department have been 
arranged according to their attainments in two classes, and 
have successfully prosecuted their studies under Prof Stone, 
assisted in the primary English Branches, and to some extent 
in Algebra and Geometry, by Mr. ^Fisher. 



BAPTIST THEOLOGICAL INSTITUTION. 169 

CLASS OF THE FIRST YEAR. 

" The class for the first year, with three daily exercises have 
gone through with Geography, Arithmetic, and English Gram- 
mar, and have advanced to the 9th section in Algebra, and to 
the 7th in Geometry. 

" They have had in connection with the other class, a daily 
exercise in orthography, synonyms, the reading and interpreta- 
tion of passages in poetry and prose selected from the scriptures 
and standard English authors ; besides a semi-weekly exercise 
in Composition and Declamation, and during the last six weeks, 
a weekly extemporaneous debate. 

ADVANCED CLASS. 

" The advanced class have reviewed and completed Algebra 
and Geometry — have examined the elements of Natural Phi- 
losophy, Astronomy and Chemistry — have gone through with 
Whately's Rhetoric and Logic, Wayland's Intellectual and 
Moral Philosophy, and have advanced in Butler's Analogy as 
far as the 5th chapter of the 2d part ; besides exercises in readr 
ing, composition, declamation, etc., as noticed above, 

" Members of both classes have had during four months an 
exercise in Greek, under Mr. Buell. 

TEXT BOOKS. 

" The following is a list of text books used in the Preparatory 
Department — Mitchell's Geography — Adams' Arithmetic — 
Brown's English Grammar — Parker's Aids to English Compo- 
sition — Graham's Synonyms — Day's Algebra, (revised edition,) 
— Geometry, Davies, Legendre — Comstock's Natural Philoso- 
phy and Chemistry — Olmstead's Astronomy — Whately's Rhet- 
oric and Logic — Intellectual and Moral Philosophy, Wayland's 
— Butler's Analogy." 

We have copied this account of the studies prescribed for 
pupils of this institution, to show the progress of the Baptist 
denomination in a proper appreciation of the value of" human 
learning," which, half a century ago, was rather feared than 
desired, as a qualification for their teachers — in the South and 
22 



170 SCHOOLS OF CINCINNATI. 

West particularly. And, perhaps, their earliest missionaries 
would have been less successful if they had possessed more 
learning ; it might, possibly, have cramped their genius and 
checked that native eloquence, which is^ — especially among the 
ignorant — more effective than learning in calling men to re- 
pentance. 

At the present time, this denomination possesses a number of 
clergymen, eminent as men of learning — scholars of the highest 
class — and many of its authors are recognized as distinguished 
" defenders of the faith." 

The Theological schools, of all Protestant denominations, 
have been greatly multiplied during the last half century, and 
a much more extensive course of study is required for admission 
to the ministry than was formerly necessary ; and this is one 
of the marks of progress in the general value of education on 
the part of the community. Every improvement in general 
intelHgence among hearers, requires higher attainments in 
speakers ; and the aids to the investigation of truth, which are 
given by an improved standard of education, are understood as 
soon as men discover in themselves the advantages they have 
derived from such a source. 

The Baptist denomination has had many distinguished men 
as missionaries, in various parts of heathendom, and, among 
them, some that have been very eminent for their knowledge 
of the languages of Eastern Asia, and, generally, for their at- 
tainments in rare learning ; and their missions have generally 
been more successful from this cause. In the early periods of 
missionary history, it appeared to be theprevalent opinion, that 
men of very limited knowledge would do as well for mission- 
aries, if they possessed the necessary zeal ; and if, with such 
notions, men of uncommon "strength of mind and native talent 
should be selected, they would, probably, be successful, as such 
men generally succeed in whatever they undertake. But if, 
instead of men of this class, missionary Boards select such as 
they feel somewhat ashamed of, but think they may do well 
enough to send among ignorant heathen, they will be likely to 
hear such accounts of them, as those which formerly excited the 
sneers and ridicule of the Edinburgh Review. 



BAPTIST THEOLOGICAL INSTITUTION. 171 

Since a more correct estimate of the qualifications necessary 
for missionaries to the heathen has been entertained, their 
success has been remarkably increased; and to the early Bap- 
tist denomination — to which such men as Marshman, Ward, 
and other self-sacrificing laborers in Christ's vineyard, devoted 
themselves — a great portion of this success is owing ; not only 
for what their own missionaries have done, but for the lesson 
which other denominations received from them, of the import- 
ance of sending abroad men of learning, instead of such as 
were supposed to be fit to instruct the heathen, merely because 
they were fit for nothing else. 

The importance of human learning to those who would be- 
come teachers, is now generally appreciated, as well in relation 
to Theological instruction as to the sciences of common life, 
for the forms of error are multiplying with the progress of im- 
provement, and the powers of truth must be called forth to oppose 
it from every source that can supply aid of any kind. 



CHAPTER XXI. 



THE CINCINNATI ASTRONOMICAL SOCIETY. 

The second organization of the Cincinnati College having 
been brought to an untimely end, in 1845, Professor Mitchell, 
whose love of Astronomical science was stronger than death — 
the death of the institution in which it was fostered — determined 
that an Astronomical Observatory should be established in 
Cincinnati. The accomplishment of such an undertaking was 
destined to be one of the remarkable events of this eventful 
age. It was the establishment of an institution of a character 
so novel and extraordinary among democrats and pioneers, in 
a new State and a new city, as, when erected, to arrest the 
attention of visitors and travelers as much as the mounds and 
ancient works which are found throughout these western regions, 
to which it offers a remarkable and instructive contrast. The 
one class of objects exhibiting the slow decay of works of de- 
fensive warfare, erected during periods of ignorance and bar- 
barism. — the other exemplifying the rapid progress of improve- 
ments in the war against ignorance and barbarism, among an 
intelligent community, in an enlightened age. 

The researches, enquiries, and observations respecting the 
mounds have hitherto produced no important result. We en- 
quire, with a laudable desire for historical information, who 
were their authors — whence they came — whither they went, and 
who were the enemies against whom they had to contend ? To 
such enquiries we have received no satisfactory answer. 

To similar enquiries respecting the Observatory, we reply : 
its authors are the citizens of Cincinnati, who came together 
here from all parts of America and Europe, to build up a city 
in the wilderness, and to endow it with everything conducive 





^a^itf^ ■* 



/ /, / ///// nff/O /Uf//fr/f'/rr//71'/r.syy'/fr . 



ASTRONOMICAL SOCIETY^. 173 

to human happiness ; and this work is a fortress erected as one 
of the defences against the evils of popular ignorance : it is 
one of the strongholds from which continual sallies are made 
against that most dangerous foe to free institutions, of govern- 
ment, and to social happiness. 

These answers, whether given to querists or suggested by 
their own minds, have aided in bringing about important results. 
They have excited feelings in which, perhaps, some jealousy 
may have been mingled with regret that the older, wealthier, 
and prouder cities of our Union, with their long established 
institutions of learning — Harvard and Yale, for instance — aud 
the seat of our national government — the proper site for a 
national observatory, on a plan corresponding with our national 
greatness — should have been so far behind the new city, so 
recently sprung up in the wilderness that its name was scarcely 
known among men of science, as to allow the first institution 
of this kind in our country to be there. This has, undoubtedly, 
stimulated the sluggish operations of other observatories, and 
excited the efforts that have been made to cause them to excel 
that of Cincinnati. We gave an example to the old and 
wealthy which they ought to have given to us, who were young 
and poor. And it has, probably, awakened some of them. 
Cambridge and Washington have now larger telescopes than 
that of Cincinnati, which, at the time it was mounted, was the 
largest in America, and the most powerful in the world, except 
that of Pulkova. 

Heretofore, the establishment of astronomical observatories 
had been considered imperial and royal prerogatives, except 
such as were needed for teaching the science, on a small scale, 
at universities and colleges. This prerogative, as well as all 
others that influence public happiness, where the people are 
sovereign, belongs to them — and the people of Cincinnati re- 
solved to exercise it ; and its exercise was purely a democratic 
measure. No government patronage was asked for, nor was 
there any waiting for legacies from the wealthy. It was exclu- 
sively the work of the people — those of every class. A desire 
for the promotion of knowledge in our city to an extent beyond 



174 SCHOOLS OF CINCINNATI. 

that furnished by the common seminaries of learning, was the 
the stimulant. A determination to establish all those institu- 
tions that a highly civilized and progressive people ought to 
possess, was the feeling that impelled a numerous body of men, 
in all grades of society, to aid in a work which, to most of them, 
personally, could never be of any advantage, but it might, and 
would, be so to their children, and this was a sufficient motive 
to interest them in the cause. 

It is too late to enquire whether the diffusion of knowledge, 
and making its highest departments as accessible to the poor as 
the rich, is desirable, though such enquiries have been made 
with strong doubts as to the answer, by political and philan- 
thropic philosophers throughout Christendom. It is connected 
with the enquiry into the effects of the extension of the demo- 
cratic principle, that is, the extension of the political power of 
the most numerous class of society, whether its tendency is to 
increase human happiness. Doubts have been entertained by 
the most sagacious, whether the distribution of political power 
equally and indiscriminately among the inexperienced, the ig- 
norant, and the careless, as well as among the wise and learned, 
would not have such a tendency to introduce disorders in com- 
munities as would make the majority prefer the calm quiet of 
despotism to the disorders arising from the political equality of 
those who do not and cannot possess equality in moral and 
intellectual culture. To guard against the realization of these 
doubts and fears, it is universally acknowledged that, as in our 
own country, the strong arm of power cannot be used ; the 
only safeguard for us is the diffusion of knowledge. And, to 
make it as general as it ought to be, we must excite curiosity 
respecting everything that can possibly interest men. The 
curiosity of some is excited in respect to the earth, its interior 
and exterior, in numberless points ; of others, respecting the 
heavens, and everything above the earth ; and when replies are 
obtained to one query, another is excited, and by such queries 
and replies, useful knowledge is obtained, whatever may be 
their subject. 



ASTRONOMICAL SOCIETY. 175 

Political economists have always pursued their investigations 
as if the wealth of nations was merely material wealth ; and 
if they speak of the wealth of knowledge, it is only in relation 
to the use to be made of it in the production of material wealth; 
Mankind seem to be in their regard merely a higher class of 
animals, who come into the world to propogate their species, 
to destroy some other animals of their own and other kinds, 
and die. They seem to imagine that the physical wants of the 
masses, only, are entitled to attention, and that their moral and 
intellectuul wants are, if entitled to any attention whatever 
merely secondary. 

If the masses themselves were not governed by similar or 
worse principles — if they could be made to attempt to supply 
their intellectual as well as physical wants, they might safely 
be trusted with political power ; but as long as they are ready 
to sell their birthright for a mess of pottage, the fears of the 
conservatives are legitimate. But when any people establish 
scientific institutions for themselves because they desire them, 
such fears will give place to hopes, and pleasing anticipations 
of the future fortunes of such people. With them, the love of 
liberty is shown to be in strong contrast with that Jacobinism 
whose object is to destroy ; and whose excesses, in the names 
of liberty, equality and fraternity, have disgusted the virtuous 
and strengthened the chains of despotism. Jacobinical liberty 
is license to pull down. True liberty is freedom to build up — to 
establish whatever may tend to the promotion of the happiness 
of society, and especially such institutions as tend to elevate 
and enlighten the mind. 

It may be said that the science of Astronomy deals in mat- 
ters elevated too high above the things of earth, to have any 
influence on such subjects as civil freedom, or political institu- 
tions ; but this is too limited a view of its influences. Every- 
thing that strengthens and elevates the mind tends to render 
men incapable of submitting to slavery, or to despotic rule ; 
and when they become such true lovers of freedom that they 
cannot, under any circumstances, submit to slavery themselves, 
they will not willingly be the masters of slaves. If the people 



176 SCHOOLS OF CINCINNATI. 

of Ohio establish and maintain scientific institutions, they will 
never lose their political rights, because the instincts, the de- 
sires, and feelings, which lead men voluntarily to seek for higher 
and still higher degrees of knowledge, will always stimulate 
their attention to the true sources of public happiness. 

The relaxation of this love of knowledge — which has charac- 
terized not only our city, but our State — for several years past, 
as exemplified in the neglect of our State Geological Survey, 
and in various other matters, has already produced its effiects; 
and the disgraceful legislation of our last Legislature, bears 
unmistakable testimony to the evils arising from the preference 
of ignorant men, and jacobinal partisans, to enact laws for us, 
to those who are qualified by their virtues and their knowledge, 
to look higher for motives of action, than the instructions of 
self-appointed party dictators. 

This relaxation, however, in a people possessing the institu- 
tions and the principles of those of Ohio, can be but temporary ; 
and it^ought to serve as a warning, to teach us, experimentally, 
what we have often enough been taught didactically, that " eter- 
nal vigilance is the price of liberty." 

The differences of character, and of social and political 
situation, between the negro and the Caucasian races, are the 
extreme manifestations of the difierent influences which love of 
knowledge and the cultivation of science, or the neglect of 
intellectual, and preference of sensual enjoyments, produce 
upon nations and races. Nations of the Caucasian races 
have, indeed,'^become^slaves, under despotic governments, as 
in the case of the Romans, under Tiberius, Caligula, Nero, 
and their successors ; because they were extensive slave own- 
ers, and the vices which a system of slavery necessarily 
produces in the masters — sensuality and indolence — will make 
it necessary for them to be slaves themselves to higher masters. 

Such men maj^, indeed, occasionally become impatient under 
arbitrary oppression and destroy a tyrant in a violent outbreak ; 
but to kill a tyrant, is not to make any approach towards free- 
dom ; and to free slaves who do not possess any desire for 
mental cultivation, is merely giving a wider space for the 
exercise of their vices. 



ASTRONOMICAL SOCIETY. 177 

The people of the States and Territories North-west of Ohio, 
have the love of freedom more deeply seated in their feelings, 
manners, and habits, through the influence of the earliest insti- 
tutions, declarations, and proceedings of their pioneers, than 
any other body of people extant, or that ever existed. Impa- 
tience of the restraints of civil society, rather than a genuine 
love of freedom, may, indeed, have influenced many of the 
first settlers among them. But a love of the safeguards of 
freedom, was the earliest principle cultivated among the intel- 
ligent pioneers of Ohio, and this is the vestal fire which can- 
not — must not — ever be extinguished. The progress of these 
States and Territories, give proof of the truth of the theories 
of freedom inculcated in the ordinance of 1787, in the first 
constitutions of Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois, and in the continual 
instructions of fathers to their children. 

The tendency in certain states of society to allow light and 
superficial literature to encroach upon the domains of the 
severer sciences, is a danger that requires eternal vigilance to 
prevent. This species of literature is, like recreation to the body, 
not only harmless, but useful, if judiciously used. But to give 
the mind wholly to that kind of literature, or to devote the 
bodily powers wholly to amusement, is, in each case, de- 
structive. 

We are recording one of the manifestations of those quali- 
ties which have given us such an astonishing progress in the 
arts and enjoyments of life — in the love of freedom, and in 
the general intelligence that qualifies us for its enjoyment, as 
displayed in the popular association for the establishment of a 
scientific institution of so high a character as that of the Cin- 
cinnati Observatory. The account of its origin, and progress, 
we copy from Professor Mitchell's preface to his Lectures, en- 
titled " The Planetary and Stellar World." After stating that 
his attention had for many years been directed to the subject of 
an Astronomical Observatory, he says : 

" Up to that period, our country, and the West particularly, 
had given but little attention to practical Astronomy. A few 
individuals, with a zeal and ardor deserving of all praise, had 
23 



178 SCHOOLS OF CINCINNATI. 

struggled on to eminence almost without means or instruments. 
An isolated telescope was found here and there scattered 
through the country ; but no regularly organized observatory, 
with powerful instruments, existed within the limits of the 
United States, so far as I know. 

" To attempt the building of an observatory of the first class, 
and to furnish it with instruments of the highest order, without 
any aid from the general or State government, but by the vol- 
untary contribution of all classes of citizens, was an enterprise 
of no common difficulty. To ascertain whether any interest 
could be excited in the public mind, in favor of astronomy, in 
the spring of 1842 a series of lectures were delivered in the 
hall of the Cincinnati College. To give an increased effect to 
these lectures, (which were unwritten, and in a style of great 
simplicity,) a mechanical contrivance was prepared, by the aid 
of which the beautiful telescopic views in the heavens were 
presented to the audience, with a brilliancy and. power scarcely 
inferior to that displayed by the most powerful telescopes. To 
this fortunate invention were these lectures, no doubt, princi- 
pally indebted, for the interest they produced, and which occa- 
sioned them to be attended by a very large number of intelligent 
persons in the city. Encouraged by the large audiences, which 
continued through two months to fill the lecture-room, and still 
more by the request to repeat the last lecture of the course in 
one of the great churches of the city, I matured a plan for 
the building of an observatory, which it was resolved should be 
presented to the audience at the close of the lecture, in case 
circumstances should favor. Through the kindness of a few 
friends, who were now beginning to take a deep interest in the 
matter, more than two thousand persons were in attendance ; 
and it seemed that the moment had arrived for taking the first 
step in an enterprise whose fate it was impossible to predict. 

" Having closed the subject under discussion, the audience 
were requested to give a few minutes of time, for the explana- 
tion of a matter which it was hoped would not be received 
without some feelings of interest and approbation. The rapid 
advances^ of astronomy in Europe were then referred to — the 



ASTRONOMICAL SOCIETY. 179 

erection of observatories in all parts of the world — the variety 
of magnificent instruments in Russia and Germany, in France 
and England, and the utter deficiency of our own country in 
everything pertaining to the science of the stars. The past 
neglect was easily accounted for, and might be excused ; the 
future scientific character of the country rested with the people, 
and upon them devolved the responsibility of providing the 
means for original research. In Europe, imperial treasure and 
princel}'' munificence could build the temples of science ; under 
a free government no such means existed, and to accomplish 
the erection of these great scientific institutions, the intelligent 
liberality of the whole community was the only resource. But 
it had been denied that this resource could be relied on ; and it 
had been roundly asserted that, in the nature of things, the 
United States must ever remain grossly defective in all the ap- 
pliances for scientific research. To test the truth or falsehood 
of these statements was not a difficult matter ; and thus en- 
couraged by the interest already manifested in behalf of 
astronomy, I had already resolved to devote Jive years of faith- 
ful effort to accomplish the erection of a great astronomical 
observatory in the city of Cincinnati. 

" This announcement was received with every mark of favor, 
and the following simple plan was at once adopted. The entire 
amount required to erect the buildings and purchase the instru- 
ments, should be divided into shares of twenty-five dollars ; 
every shareholder to be entitled to the privileges of the obser- 
vatory, under the management of a board of control, to be elected 
by the shareholders. Before any subscription should become 
binding, the names of three hundred subscribers should be first 
obtained. This accomplished, these three hundred should meet, 
organize, and elect a board, who should thenceforward manage 
the affairs of the association. 

" Such is the history of the origin of the Cincinnati Astro- 
nomical Society. 

" In three weeks the three hundred subscribers had been ob- 
tained. No public meeting had been called ; and these names 
had been obtained by private solicitation, and a personal expla- 



180 SCHOOLS OF CINCINNATI. 

nation of the nature and advantages of the enterprise. So 
soon as the number was complete, the subscribers convened 
organized, elected officers and a directory, and gave me a com- 
mission to visit Europe, to procure instruments, examine ob- 
servatories, and to obtain the requisite knowledge to erect and 
conduct the institution which it was now hoped would be one 
day reared. 

" This order being received, on the second day I started for 
New York, and, on the 16th of June, 1842, sailed for Liver- 
pool. Having visited many of the best appointed observato- 
ries, both in England and on the continent, (in each and every 
one of which I was received with a degree of kindness and 
attention for which I acknowledge the deepest obligations,) 
and having been unsuccessful in finding, either in London or 
Paris, an object-glass of the size required, I finally determined 
to visit the city of Munich. The fame of the optical institute 
of the celebrated Frauenhofer had even reached the banks of 
the Ohio ; and it was hoped that, in that great manufactory, 
an instrument, such as the society desired, might be obtained* 
if not completed, at least in such a state of forwardness as to 
permit it to be furnished at an early day. In this I was not 
disappointed. An object-glass of nearly twelve inches diame- 
ter, and of superior finish, was found in the cabinet of M. 
Mertz, the successor of Frauenhofer. This glass had been 
subjected to a severe trial in the tube of the great refractor of 
the Munich observatory, by Dr. Lamont, and had been pro- 
nounced of the highest quality. 

" To mount this glass would require about two years, at a 
cost of nearly ten thousand dollars ; a sum considerably 
greater than that appropriated at the time for an equatorial 
telescope. Having made a conditional arrangement for this 
and other instruments, I returned to Greenwich, England, where, 
at the invitation of Professor Airy, the Astronomer Royal, I 
remained for some time to study. Having accomplished the 
objects of my journey, I returned home, and rendered a report 
to a very large meeting of the members of the association and 
other citizens of Cincinnati." * * * * 



ASTRONOMICAL SOCIETY. 181 

" The principal instrument having been ordered, and the first 
payment on its cost made, attention was now given to the pro- 
curing of a suitable site for the building. Fortunately for the 
society, the place of all others most perfectly adapted to their 
purposes was then the property of Nicholas Longworth, Esqr. 
It is a lofty hill-top, rising some four hundred feet above the 
level of the city, and commanding a perfect horizon in all 
directions. On making known to Mr. Longworth the prospects 
and wants of the Astronomical Society, the writer was directed 
by him to select four acres on the hill-top, out of a tract of 
some twenty-five acres, and to proceed at once to enclose it, 
as it would give him great pleasure to present it to the associ- 
ation. On compliance with the conditions of the title-bond, a 
deed has since been received, placing the society in full pos- 
session of this elegant position. 

" Preparations were now made to commence the erection of 
the building for the Observatory. The grounds were enclosed, 
a road built, rendering the access to the hill-top comparatively 
easy, the excavations for the foundations were made, and, on 
the 9th day of November, 1843, the corner-stone of the pier 
which was to sustain the great Refracting Telescope, was 
laid by John Quincy Adams, with appropriate ceremonies. On 
this occasion Mr. Adams made his last great oration. The 
deep interest which he had taken in astronomical science, war- 
ranted the hope that he might be induced to visit the West, on 
the occasion of laying the fonndation-stone of the first great 
popular observatory ever erected in the United States. This 
hope was not disappointed. The unaffected devotion of this 
truly great man to the interests of his country, were, perhaps, 
never more perfectly exhibited than in his ready acquiescence to 
comply with the wishes of the Astronomical Society, that he 
should perform for them the important services on which the 
future success of this new enterprise, in no small degree, de- 
pended. His high character, his advanced age, the length of 
the journey, the inclemency of the season, all combined to 
exhibit to his countrymen the depth of his interest in a cause 
which could induce such sacrifices." * * * 



182 SCHOOLS OF CINCINNATI. 

" It was believed that the intelligent mechanics of Cincinnati 
would lend their powerful aid in the accomplishment of an 
enterprise which had progressed far enough to give some con- 
fidence in its ultimate success. With little or no means the 
building was commenced, trusting to activity and perseverance 
to supply the means as the work progressed. During the first 
week, but three workmen were employed ; but by the com- 
mencement of the next week, the funds had been obtained to 
pay these, and to double their number. In six weeks not less 
than one hundred hands were at work on the hill-top and in 
the city. Mechanics of all trades subscribed for stock, and 
paid their subscription in work. The stone of which the 
building is erected, was quarried from the grounds of the soci- 
ety. The lime was burnt on the hill, and every means was 
adopted to reduce the necessary expenditures. Payment for 
stock in the Society was received in every possible article of 
trade ; due bills were taken, and these were converted into 
others which would serve in the payment of bills. 

" In this way the building was reared; and finally covered in, 
without incurring any debt. But the condition of the bond, 
by which the lot of ground was held, required the completion 
of the observatory in two years from its date ; and these two 
years would expire in June, 1845. It was seen to be impos- 
sible to carry forward the building fast enough to secure its 
completion by the required time, without incurring some debt. 
My own private resources were used, in the hope that a short 
time after the finishing of the observatory would be sufficient 
to furnish the funds to meet all engagements. The work was 
pushed rapidly forward. In February, 1845, the great tele- 
scope safely reached the city of Cincinnati ; and, in March, the 
building was ready for its reception." 

" Such are the circumstances under which this effort to trace 
the career of the human mind, in its researches among the 
stars, has been undertaken. No one science, perhaps, so per- 
fectly illustrates the gradual growth and development of the 
powers of human genius. The movement of the mind has 



ASTRONOMICAL SOCIETY. 183 

been constantly onward — its highest energies have ever been 
called into requisition — and there never has been a time when 
astronomy did not present problems not only equal to all that 
man could do, but passing beyond the limits of his greatest 
intellectual vigor. Hence, in all ages and countries, the abso- 
lute strength of human genius may be measured by its reach 
to unfold the mysteries of the stars." 

The following detailed account of the Observatory is given 
in Cist's « Cincinnati in 1851 :" 

" The site on which the Cincinnati Observatory is erected is 
one of great beauty. The building crowns a hill which rises 
some five hundred feet above the low water of the Ohio river, 
and commands a view of wonderful variety. On the east are 
seen in the distance the hills of Kentucky, the river coming in 
from the north-east; the towns of Fulton and Jamestown, with 
their manufactories aud ship-yards ; toward the north and north- 
east, extends the same range of high grounds, on the most 
southern spur of which the observatory is erected. The near- 
est of these are now highly cultivated, and are covered with 
luxuriant vineyards, and orchards of choice fruit. The village 
of Mount Auburn presents an elegant appearance, especially 
when lighted by the first rays of the morning sun. Looking 
west from the summit of the Observatory, the entire city of 
Cincinnati is spread out before the beholder, as upon a map. 
There is scarcely a building in the whole city which is not 
plainly distinguishable from this elevated position. The river 
is followed by the eye toward the south-west, its continuity 
occasionally broken by the interposition of high hills ; on the 
south and south-west, are seen the Kentucky cities of Newport 
and Covington, separated by the Licking river, whose rich val- 
ley indents the country for more than twenty miles." 

* * * * * * * 

" The Observatory building is constructed in such manner as 
to accommodate the family of the Director, as well as for sci- 
entific uses, and for the instruments. The main building, 
erected of stone, quarried from the hill, presents a front of 
eighty feet, and rises two stories and a half high on the wings. 



184 SCHOOLS OF CINCINNATI. 

and three in the center. The front is ornamented by a Grecian 
Doric portico, from whose roof there is a beautiful look out on 
the surrounding country. This portico, in connection with the 
main building and transit building, in the rear or on the east 
side, constitutes a structure whose ground plan is in the shape 
of a cross; when viewed from any point north or south, from 
which the parts of the entire structure may be taken in, the 
edifice presents an appearance of massiveness and solidity 
which harmonizes admirably with the known uses to which 
it is applied. 

" Through the center of the main building, and founded on the 
natural rock, rises a pier of grouted masonry eight feet square, 
entirely insulated from the floors through which it passes, to 
furnish a permanent and immovable basis for the great equa- 
torial telescope, the chief instrument of the Observatory. This 
magnificent telescope, one of the largest and most perfect in 
the world, was made at the Frauenhofer Institute, Munich, by 
Messrs. Mertz & Mahler, so distinguished for the perfection of 
their optical instruments. 

" The focal length is about 17^^ feet ; the diameter of the 
object-glass, twelve inches ; bearing magnifying powers vary- 
ing from 100 times np to 1400 times. Clock-work is attached 
to the ponderous mass of the telescope, and all its machinery 
and circles, by which its mass, weighing some 2500 lbs., is 
moved with such admirable accuracy, that an object under 
examination may be foUowed'by the telescope, at the will of 
the observer. This stupendous instrument, mounted on a stone 
pedestal of great strength and graceful figure, rises, when di- 
rected to the zenith, some 20 feet above the floor of the room 
in which it is located. 

" This room is surmounted by a roof of peculiar structure, and 
so arranged that a portion of the vertical wall and the roof, 
strongly framed together and mounted on wheels on a railway 
track, may, by a single person, be rolled either north or south, 
when the entire heavens fall within the sweep of the telescope. 
It is truly wonderful to behold the admirable manner in which 
this huge instrument is balanced and counterpoised, until the 



ASTRONOMICAL SOCIETY. 185 

astronomer handles it with as much faciUty as if it were divested 
of gravity or were afloat on some liquid surface. 

" One story lower, and in the transit-room, is mounted the 
transit telescope, the property of the U. S. Coast Survey, and 
furnished to the Observatory by the present Superintendent, 
Dr. A. D. Bache. Connected with this instrument is an ad- 
mirable sidereal Clock, by Molynex,of London, and presented 
to the Observatory by Wilson McGrew, of our city. Here, 
also, is found the new machinery invented and constructed by 
the present Director, O. M. Mitchell : it consists of two instru- 
ments, of entirely different construction, the one intended to 
record the observations of the right ascension ; the other, ob- 
servations of difference in declination or of N. P. Distance. 

" It would be quite impossible, in the compass of this notice, 
to give any just idea of this wonderfully delicate apparatus. 
By means of the electro-magnet, the clock is made to record its 
own beats, with surprising beauty, on a disc revolving with 
uniform velocity on a vertical axis. This disc, covered with 
paper or metal, receives a minute dot, struck into it by a stylus, 
driven by a magnet, whose operating electric circuit is closed 
at each alternate beat, by a delicate vibrating wire, attached to 
the pendulum of the clock by an actual spide7-^s web ; thus, at 
each alternate vibration of the pendulum, the circuit is closed, 
and the second is entered, magnetically, on the revolving disc. 
At the close of each revolution, the disc moves itself forward 
about the tenth of an inch, without check or interference with 
the uniformity of its angular motion, and a new circumference 
of time dots commences to be recorded. On the time scale 
thus perpetually forming, the observer can enter, magnetically, 
by the touch of a key, the observed instant of a transit of any 
star, or other object, across the meridian wires of his telescope. 

" These entries are subsequently read from the disc, even 
down to the thousandth of a second of time. 

" This apparatus has now been in use for nearly two years, and 

has furnished observations of accuracy never before reached by 

any previous instrument. The rapidity, facility, and accuracy 

attainable by these observations are truly admirable. Results 

24 



186 SCHOOLS OF CINCINNATI. 

have made it manifest, that the errors, from all sources, were 
only to be found among the hundredths of one second of time. 
The inventor hopes to banish the errors from this region even, 
and drive them to the thousandth of a second. 

*' The declination apparatus is also entirely new. It releases 
the observer from the necessity of reading any circles or other 
means of identifying his instrumental positions, and enables 
him, at a single transit, to record as many as ten observations 
for declination. — even among the swiftly moving bodies of the 
equator. This gives an advantage, all other things being 
equal, of ten to one over the old methods of observing. This 
instrument has been in use about a year, and is yet incomplete 
in some of its refined details, but has produced remarkable 
results, and gives the highest promise, when mechanically com- 
plete in all its parts. 

" Such are the appliances for work in the Cincinnati Observ- 
atory. There is no endowment, and the present Director has 
no salary or other compensation, and no assistance out of his 
own immediate family. The great telescope has been princi- 
pally employed in the measure of the newly discovered and 
previously discovered double and multiple stars, and in figuring 
remarkable clusters and nebulae. 

" The other apparatus and transit instrument are employed 
in re-determining the places of the N. A. standard stars, and 
other kindred observations. 

*' It is only to be regretted that an enterprise, so nobly con- 
ceived, and so well carried out, could not now be permanently 
endowed, that its instruments might be worked day and night 
to their utmost capacity." 

The observatory having been established by a joint stock 
society, and the stockholders having the privilege of visiting 
it at specified periods, the consequence was, that interruptions 
to the observations, when in progress for scientific objects, were 
frequent, and often retarded the proper business of such an 
institution. And although the Director, (and his assistants,) 
aided by some inventions of his own, for facilating his work, 
was enabled to give to the world proofs of good progress in the 



ASTRONOMICAL SOCIETY. 187 

cause of science; yet it was supposed, that, as the stockholders 
had enjoyed for ten years the opportunities of visiting the 
Observatory, they would, at the end of that time, be willing to 
surrender that privilege, in favor of the advancempxifc^^ 
science. A circular was, therefore, addressed to each of them, 
requesting such relinquishment — to which request all who 
responded agreed unconditionally, except three, who agreed to 
it conditionally. The following portion of the circular refers 
to the reasons for making the request : 

" The admission to any Observatory of persons not engaged 
in conducting its operations, is a novelty in such institutions, 
which was first introduced in the Cincinnati Observatory. But 
the example has not only not been followed, but has subjected 
this institution to sneers and ridicule, with the imputation that 
it has done nothing for the advancement of science. 

" This imputation, which is founded solely on the supposed 
impracticability of conducting scientific observations in an 
Observatory which has been sneeringly called ' a mere show 
place,' is most unjust. Not only has the establishment of this 
institution tended to advance astronomical science, and render 
it popular, thereby contributing more than anything else to the 
establishment and improvement of every other Observatory 
worthy of note in the United States, but by improved methods 
of observation, and the aid of its newly-invented machinery, 
accomplished so much in the progress of its scientific opera- 
tions as to enable it to compare favorably with any other 
similar institution." 

The operations at the Observatory to which reference is 
made in the above circular, are thus stated by the Assistant 
Director : 

"The following are among the principal subjects upon which the instru- 
ments of the Cincinnati Observatory and the Director have been employed : 

"I. Observations on the solar spots, and a determination of the period of 
rotation of the sun on its axis. 

"II. Observations on Mars, with a new determination of its period of 
rotation. 

" III. A catalogue of new double stars south of the Equator. 

*^ IV. Measures of double stars in Struve's ' Catalogus Novus.' 



188 SCHOOLS OF CINCINNATI. 

" V. Measures of the diameters of Venus, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, 
and Ncplune, and of Saturn's rings, and of the Sun's diameter. 

"VI. Observations for the R. A. of Neptune. 

" VII. Experimental work on the American method of R. A., involving — 

" 1. Method to secure uniform motion of disc. 

"2. Methods of record by pen, pencil, steel point, on paper and on metal. 

" 3. Positions of observation, and time-recording pens. 

"4. Armature time. 

"VIII. Observations for differences of longitude. 

"IX. Moon culminations. 

"X. Observations for the velocity of the electric wave. 

"XI. Experimental work for new method of recording differences of 
declinations by the electro-magnet. 

"XII. Examination of the uniformity in figure of micrometer screws, and 
methods of measuring small arcs of divided circles. 

"XIII. Observations on the changes of figure of the various parts of the 
new machinery employed in the observation and record of differences of 
declination. 

"XIV. New and more delicate method of dividing arcs, and of reading 
the pointing of the telescope in observations for declination. 

"XV. Catalogue of ecliptic stars, to the twelfth magnitude inclusive, 
with exact places, now in progress, and the places of over three thousand 
new stars, have been determined. 

" XVI. Micrometer, and new measures of the places of the Pleiades, 
Hyades, and Praesepe, now in progress." 



The first President of the Astronomical Society was one who 
had been a liberal contributor to its funds, as he had nearly a 
third of a century previous, to those of the Cincinnati College, 
and subsequently to most of our valuable institutions. At his 
death, the Society appointed a committee to prepare a suitable 
obituary notice, which was, at a subsequent meeting, presented 
and inscribed on the records of the Society, together with one 
of Henry Starr, another member of the Board of Trustees^ 
who died about the same time. The eloquent tribute to the 
memory of the President, in Mrs. Sigourney's "Past Meri'dian," 
will not be inappropriate here : 

" The sunbeams of usefulness have sometimes lingered to a 
late period around the heads of those who had taken part in 
the pioneer hardships of our new settlements. I think of 
pne, but recently deceased, at the age of eighty -five — Judge 



ASTRONOMICAL SOCIETY. 189 

Burnet — who was numbered among the founders of Ohio, that 
state which sprang from its cradle with the vigor of a giant. 
After the completion of his classical and legal studies, he ex- 
changed his home in New Jersey for a residence in Cincinnati, 
then in its rudest stages of development. As he climbed the 
steep river-bank, he saw only scattered cabins, a few framed 
buildings, and a log fort, marking the frontier of civilized life. 
Conforming his habits to those of an unrefined community, 
and claiming but a few physical comforts, he exercised his pro- 
fession in the courts of Detroit and Vincennes, when traveling 
was by bridle paths, by blazed trees, fording wild streams, and 
camping on the wet ground. Educated in the school of 
Washington and Hamilton, who were honored guests in his 
father's house during the forming period of his life, he nobly 
dispersed around him the wealth of an upright and polished 
mind. By persevering industry, and moral and religious worth, 
he won general confidence ; and in due time a seat in the 
Senate of the United States, and upon the bench of the Su- 
preme Court of Ohio, attested the respect of the people. Popu- 
lation spread around him like the pageantry of a dream, and 
Cincinnati, among whose rudiments his manly hand had 
wrought, echoed, ere his departure, to the rushing tread of 
130,000 inhabitants. His health had been originally feeble, 
but the endurance of hardship, and, what is still more remark- 
able, the access of years, confirmed it. At more than four- 
score, he moved through the streets with as erect a form, an 
eye as intensely bright, and colloquial powers as free and fasci- 
nating, as at thirty. When, full of knowledge and benevo- 
lence, and with an unimpaired intellect, he passed away, it was 
felt that not only one of the fathers of a young land had 
fallen, but that one of the bright and beautiful lights of society 
had been extinguished." 

Since the alteration in the plan of conducting the Observa- 
tory, the progress of its scientific operations has been much 
increased, and we have reason to expect from them as great 
improvements in astronomical science as from any similar 
institution in our country or in Europe. 



CHAPTER XXII. 



THE CINCINNATI SOCIETY FOR THE PROMOTION OF 
USEFUL KNOWLEDGE. 

The interest so generally felt in relation to educational and 
scientific institutions in our city, which was kept in active oper- 
ation more especially during the sessions of the College of 
Teachers, was displayed in various forms, and, among others, 
in the formation of an institution with the above title. It was, 
however, too much in advance of the state of society at that 
period, and, consequently, did not continue in existence for any 
considerable time. It was not, indeed, in advance of the hopes 
and expectations of that body of zealous laborers in the cause 
of the promotion and diffusion of science, literature, and the 
arts, by whom it was projected ; but it was in advance of that 
period when a sufficient number of them could be assembled in 
this city, with wealth and leisure to enable them to devote 
the attention necessary to cause such an institution to flourish. 

For this end, a firm foundation was necessary, and the zeal 
which inspired the project, inspired, also, the hope that such a 
foundation could be laid, and such a structure built upon it as 
would promote the interests of education and learning through- 
out our country. 

This hope was destined to be disappointed, but the attempt 
was honorable, and its influence was felt, though but little ob- 
served, and now scarcely remembered. 

The association was first organized under the title of " The 
Educational Society of Hamilton County," and was intended 
to be auxiliary to the " Western Literary Institute, and College 
of Professional Teachers." Its plan and constitution were 
subsequently changed, the above title assumed, and a much 



SOCIETY FOR THE PEOMOTIOK OF USEFUL KNOWLEDGE. 191 

wider field of operations proposed. At its first meeting, an 
eloquent address was delivered by the Rev. Lyman Beecher ; 
and a general discussion of the objects and plan of proceed- 
ings, gave great interest to the meeting, and a stimulus to the 
movement. 

Although the association was not able to accomplish the ob- 
jects proposed, yet, as it was a praiseworthy effort in a good 
cause, the exertions made during its existence in behalf of ed- 
ucation, and for the diff'usion of knowledge and good taste, 
ought not to be forgotten ; for they form an interesting chapter 
in the educational history of Cincinnati. 

The record of what it proposed, and a portion of what it 
accomplished, is contained in the volume of the "Ninth and 
Tenth Annual Meetings of Western Literary Institute and 
College of Professional Teachers," and is as follows : 

CONSTITUTION, 

"Article 1. This Society shall be called the ' Cincinnati So- 
ciety for the Promotion of Useful Knowledge.' 

"Art. 2. The sole object of the Society shall be to promote 
the interests of education, and the diff'usion of knowledge in 
every way within its power. 

"Art. 3. The officers of the Society shall be a President, Vice 
President, Recording Secretary, Corresponding Secretary, Treas- 
urer, and Librarian, who shall perform the duties usually apper- 
taining to their offices, and shall form an Executive Committee 
to prepare the business of the meetings, and to do whatever 
else may be necessary for the full action of the Society. These 
officers shall be elected annually on the last Monday of April, 
and serve till their successors are chosen. 

"Art. 4. This Society shall choose delegates to attend the 
meetings of the College of Teachers, who shall report to that 
institution such information as they may have relative to edu- 
cation. 

"Art. 5. This Society shall consist of such friends of education 
as may sign the Constitution, and pay into the treasury the sum 
of one dollar, together with such honorary and corresponding 



192 SCHOOLS OF CINCINNATI. 

members as may be elected in conformity to the provisions to 
be made in the By-Laws. 

"Art. 6. The Society shall form all necessary By-Laws. 

"Art. 7. This Constitution may be altered by a vote of two- 
thirds of the members present at any regular meeting, notice of 
the alteration proposed having been submitted in writing at a 
previous meeting. 

"BY-LAWS. 

" L This Society shall be divided into the following sections : 
" 1. On Practical Teaching. 
" 2. Exact and Mixed Science. 
" 3. Natural Science. 
" 4. Practical Arts. 
'• 5. Fine Arts. 
" 6. Medicine. 
" 7. Law. 

" 8. Political Economy and Political Science. 
" 9. Moral and Intellectual Philosophy. 
" 10. History. 
"11. Language. 

" 12. Commerce and Agriculture. 
" 13. Polite Literature. 
" 14. Statistics. 
"IL Each member of the Society may attach himself to one 
or more of said sections, in accordance with the rules of the 
same, and shall be requested to furnish all facts, books, spec- 
imens, and reasonings in his power, touching the subjects 
before the section or sections to which he may be attached. 
" III. Each of said sections, when it contains five or more 
members may organise itself, appoint its officers, and agree to 
a course of proceedings for itself; said organization and officers 
being reported to the Recording Secretary. Each section may 
also appoint honorary and corresponding members, under such 
rules as it may adopt, provided that not more than five honor- 
ary members shall be elected by any one section. 

" IV. There shall be at least two meetings in the year of the 
Society — in the months of April and September. Two weeks 



SOCIETY FOR THE PROMOTION OF USEFUL KNOWLEDGE. 193 

previous to each meeting, the Recording Secretary shall notify 
the officers of each section to bring forward such matters as 
they deem worthy. These meetings may be adjourned from 
time to time, as may be desirable. 

" V. At the meeting preceding the meeting of the College of 
Teachers, in each year, delegates to that body shall be appointed 
and matter prepared to be submitted to it. 

" VI. Each year a course of lectures shall be instituted by 
this Society, to be delivered weekly or oftener, from the first of 
November to the last of March. The lecturers and the subjects 
shall be appointed at least three months before the time of be- 
ginning, by the Executive Committee, in conjunction with the 
officers of the different sections. 

" VII. All expenses for the first year shall be paid by a dis- 
tribution of them among the members of the Society ; and 
after the first year, by such a tax, payable in advance, as will 
meet the expenses. The peculiar expenses of each section to 
be paid by itself. 

" The sections provided in the foregoing By-Laws were or- 
ganized, as follows. 

Sect. 1. Practical Teaching — M. G. Williams, President; 
Wm. M. Jones, Secretary. 

Sect. 2. Exact and Mixed Sciences— O. M. Mitchell, Presi- 
dent ; W. F. Hopkins, Secretary. 

" Sec. 3. Natural Sciences^ — J. P. Foote, President ; J. G. 
Anthony, Secretary. 

" Sec. 5. Fine Arts — John Cranch, President; P. S. Symmes, 
Vice President ; Wm. Piatt, Secretary ; A. Baldwin, Treasurer. 

" Sec. 6. Medicine — E. A. AtLee, President ; J. B. Hearne, 
Secretary. 

" Sec. 9. Moral and Intellectual Philosophy — T. J. Biggs, 
President ; W. H. Channing, Secretary. 

" Sec. 10. History — J. Lake, President ; Wm. M. Jones, Sec- 
retary. 

" Sec. 11. Language — T. J. Biggs, President ; R. R. Raymond, 
S^ecretary. 

25 



194 



SCHOOLS OF CINCINNATI, 



" Sec. 13. Polite Literature— W. D. Gallagher, President ; J. 
B. Hearne, Secretary. 

"Sec. 15. Statistics, it was resolved, should include all the 
members of the Society, under its general organization. 

" Sections 4, 7, 8, and 12 did not report their organization. 

" The Course of Lectures, instituted by the By-Laws, was 
organized as follows, viz : to commence on the 2nd of November 
next, with an introductory lecture, to be delivered by J. H. Per- 
kins, and thereafter a lecture to be delivered weekly as folows : 



DATE. 



On the 9th and 16th Nov. 
23d and 30th Nov. 

7th and 14th Dec. 
21st and 27th Dec. 

4th and 11th Jan. 

18th and 25th Jan. 

1st and 8th Feb. 

15th and 22d Feb. 

1st and 8th March. 
15th and 22d March. 

29th March and 5th April. 



Natural History. 

Exact Science in relation to 
Natural Science and Prac- 
tical Arts. 

Practical Arts, 1st of Primary t 
Necessity; 2d of Learning. J 

Fine Arts, as applied to con- i 
struction, and their general > 
theory, ) 

Polite Literature. ) 

Philosophy of Language and ) 

Ethnology, ) 

Influence of Practical arts and > 

of the Fine Arts on nations. J 
Influence of the literature of 

People on nations, and of 

Polite Literature, 
Outline of Political Economy; 

Its benefits and dangers, 
Purposes of Political Science, 

and their connection with 

Moral Science, 
The great features of Ancient 

and Modern Civilization, 



LECTURERS APPOINTED. 



J. Locke, and 
E. A. AtLee. 

0. M. Mitchell, and 
J. Kay. 

T. J. Matthews, and 
J. P, Harrison. 

E. P. Cranch, and 
John Cranch. 

T. 0. Prescott, and 
"Wm. Greene.] 
C. E. Stowe, and 
P. S. Symmes. 

E. D. Mansfield. 
"W. D. Gallagher. 

T. Walker. 

T.J. Biggs, and 
W. H. Channing. 

J. T.Brooke, and 
L. Beecher. 



*' The following gentlemen were also appointed to deliver 
lectures on subjects to be chosen by themselves, at times when 
the appointed lecturers should fail, or when it should be conve- 
nient, or desirable from any other cause, viz : W.J. Barbee, 
Ch. D. L. Brush, J. C. Yaughan, W. Wood, C. P. James, J. P. 
Foote, D. Drake, J. B. Hearne, and J. P. Kirtland. 

" It was resolved by the Society to establish a Public Library, 
and a committee was appointed to take the necessary measures 
for this purpose, who have made considerable progress, and 
reported a favorable prospect of the establishment of a respect- 
able librai-y." 



SOCIETY FOR THE PROMOTION OF USEFUL KNOWLEDGE. 195 



It is believed that the Society, although its original title had 
been changed, and its plans somewhat modified, would be a pow- 
erful auxiliary to the College of Teachers ; and it was hoped that 
it might embrace so large a portion of the community, as to give 
great additional interest in the promotion of the objects of the 
College, and facilitating its operations. It was intended, in its 
original inception, to offer a model for imitation by each county 
in the State, and thus to form a band of auxiliaries which would 
enable the College to act in all measures with a consciousness of 
strength and power to promote the great cause of education, and 
thereby to give great additional efficiency to their proceedings. 

The report made to the College states, that during a consid- 
erable period the Society successfully prosecuted the objects and 
purposes contemplated by its organization. It was organized 
at a time of great political excitement and party feeling ; and 
even then there was a union of sentiment and harmony of 
action in its formation, which was alike creditable to its mem- 
bers, and to the mixed society of which our city is composed. 
Its subsequent deliberations have been conducted in the same 
spirit. It is a source of high gratification to the friends of sci- 
ence and moral culture that such a society is established among 
us. The lectures were commenced on Monday evening Decem- 
ber 7th, 1840, in the hall of the Cincinnati College. The pro- 
gramme, as originally reported, was somewhat modified, and 
the course was made to consist of fifteen lectures, by the fol- 
lowing gentlemen : — J. H. Perkins, J. Locke, E. A. AtLee, E. 
D. Mansfield, T. J. Biggs, O. M. Mitchell, C. L. Telford, T. 
Walker, J. Cranch, E. P. Cranch, Wm. H. Channing, C. E. 
Stowe, L. Beecher, and J. T. Brooke. There were generally 
about five hundred persons present, and the interest was well 
sustained throughout the course. 

The principal cause of the decline and fall of this institution 
was the same that has produced the same efiect in the cases of 
many other valuable institutions, viz : — the want of an endow- 
ment to supply the funds for defraying the necessary expenses. 
It seems to be a more common characteristic of men who un- 
dertake to establish scientific institutions, or conduct public 



196 SCHOOLS OF CINCINNATI. 

benevolent enterprises, than of almost any other class, to 
overlook the necessity of having them bear some proportion, 
in their proposed extent, to the pecuniary provision for their 
support. They appear frequently to make their plans exten- 
sive in proportion — not to the extent, but to the want — of funds 
to carry them into operation ; like some parents who give their 
children expensive habits, apparently because they have noth- 
ing else to give them. 

This system may sometimes be successful, but as a general 
rule, it would be better and safer to give heed to the admoni- 
tions of the proverb which advises to " cut your coat according 
to the cloth." 

The association under consideration, indulged in visions of 
future usefulness — of influences beneficial to society — as bright 
as those brought before the minds of the votaries of ambition^ — 
and as delusive. 

But though it could not do what it attempted, yet the effort 
to do it, was one of those which will inspire desires, and 
future efforts, to effect the same result, perhaps in some other 
more effective form ; just as our high schools are now carrying 
into effect, in a somewhat different form, the principal object 
intended to be produced by the establishment of the Mechanics' 
Institute. The frequent reference in the publications of the 
latter -to its main object, undoubtedly exerted an influence on 
the public mind, which aided the establishment of the former. 

The occasional failure of plans of beneficial institutions, are 
not to be taken as proofs either of the impossibility or impolicy 
of establishing such institutions ; but only as notifications that 
some different systems of operations should be pursued or a 
more favorable season selected for their commencement. 

The latter we consider the one applicable to the institution 
under consideration, since, notwithstanding many causes favor- 
ing such an institution, were in operation at that period, yet 
they caused a forgetfulness of other matters, absolutely essen- 
tial to^^success, and which were discovered only by the result of 
the experiment, which, being a laudable one, afforded experi- 
ence which may be useful hereafter. 



SOCIETY FOR THE PROMOTION OF USEFUL KNOWLEDGE. 197 

The failures of such experiments should not discourage, but 
stimulate new ones, when the object in view is to diffuse the 
lights of knowledge — to teach important truths. The lesson of 
patient perseverence which Timour the Tartar read in the sixty 
repeated and finally successful efforts of the spider to fix her 
thread, and which stimulated him to repeated efforts by blood- 
shed, cruelty, and devastation, to attain the object of his ambi- 
tion, may be taught for the widely different object of enlightening 
and civilizing mankind. The progress of the pale horse, whose 
rider is death, and whose follower is hell, which is now filling 
Europe with human sacrifices to devils, and needless miseries 
in cities, and nations, and families, may be checked by — and 
only by — the education of the people. This will, we trust, be 
an efficient defense of our country. It is the defensive fortifi- 
cation which God has placed it in our power to erect, and 
which we know that no assaults can overcome. Emperors and 
kings cannot lead an enlightened people to sacrifice them- 
selves to objects of ambition, in which they have only the 
suffering, and their rulers the gratification of evil passions. 

Recent events in the histories of the most enlightened na- 
tions in Europe, might, indeed, almost justify us in yielding up 
all hope of national progress in the virtues which Christian civ- 
ilization requires ; but, notwithstanding the gloomy aspect of 
the present, we ought, all, to anticipate a brighter day for the 
future, and each one to do his part, however humble it may be, 
towards its accomplishment. 



CHAPTER XXIII. 



CINCINNATI ACADEMY OF FINE ARTS. 

Althoug^h the two institutions with the above title have been 
suffered to expire, they are entitled, at least, to an obituary no- 
tice among the Schools of Cincinnati. The first was intended 
to be a permanent institution, or to be absorbed in the Mechan- 
ics' Institute, as will be seen by the following notice, prefacing 
a pamphlet containing the act of incorporation and an address 
to the members : 

" The establishment of a Mechanics' Institute in Cincinnati, 
has, for some years past, been a favorite object with a number 
of citizens. The plan they wished to adopt, was one combining 
instruction in the Mechanic Arts, with all other Arts, and all 
the Sciences that are at present taught in our country, and the 
pupil or his guardian to have the liberty of choosing such pur- 
suits and studies as they might think proper. 

" This plan has been considered too extensive to undertake 
at present ; but it is hoped and believed that the Academy of 
Fine Arts will hereafter form part of such an establishment. 
The commencement was made with this department for rea- 
sons which it is thought will appear from the following address. 
" The mode proposed for the management of the institution 
at present, includes instruction in Mathematical Sciences and 
public Lectures, on various practical subjects. It is also in- 
tended to establish a Reading Room, for the use of the Stock- 
holders," 

The number of young artists that had already given proofs 
of more than ordinary talents and genius, and who have since 
gained fame and reputation, was so great, and the appreciation 



ACADEMY OF FINE ARTS. 199 

of their talents by their fellow citizens, so general as to appear 
to justify the establishment of such an institution as this 
Academy. 

In the address above referred to, some of the advantages 
expected from the Academy were thus noticed : 

" A large and important portion of this community consist 
of its artisans and mechanics — to this body, most of us who 
feel an anxiety for the prosperity of the city, naturally turn our 
attention, as constituting one of the principal sources from 
which that prosperity is to be derived. The fabrics manufac- 
tured by them have already acquired, throughout the Western 
Country, a reputation for superior excellence as well of fin- 
ish, as of that perfect skillfalness of construction, which insures 
their durability and their complete adaptation to the purposes 
for which they are designed. That this reputation is not 
merely accidental, but the award of experience to merit, is 
proved by the fact that a majority of the earliest and most 
zealous supporters of this establishment are among our me- 
chanics ; and that, generally, they are anxious for its success. 
For, if a taste for the Fine Arts be not necessary and always 
connected with superior mechanical skill, yet, the possession of 
it, must necessarily improve those mechanics who possess it, 
and enable them to excel in their vocations, if they be of that 
class who call in the aid of reflection and judgment to their 
labors, and not mere creatures of habit, who, by dint of perse- 
verance, have acquired the art of doing their work in a partic- 
ular style and manner which they are content to practice, with- 
out a hope or wish of improvement. 

# * * * * * * 

" That a suitable and proper attention to the Fine Arts, will 
not only increase our wealth, but will be one of the means of 
enabling us to make a proper use of it when acquired, will, I 
believe, be readily admitted by those present ; but this opinion, 
in consequence of a want of attentien to the subject, is not as 
general as it ought to be, and one of the first efforts incumbent 
upon us, is to endeavor to produce a just appreciation by the 
community generally, of our undertaking. This accomplished, 



200 SCHOOLS OF CINCINNATI. 

we can proceed with spirit and success ; and the Academy we 
are now establishing will be the germ of an institute, where all 
the mechanic arts may be taught in connection with all the 
sciences to which they have any relation, or by which they may 
be improved. It would be a proud distinction for our city to 
form such an establishment, at so early a period of her history, 
and to enable us to do it, requires only a general knowledge 
and conception of the course proposed, and the object in view, 
so that the public spirit of our citizens may be called into 
exercise." 

Of the artists referred to above, we give some sketches; 
which will recall the memory of those whose early promise 
excited hopes, which, in some cases, were blasted by early 
death, but in others have been amply fulfilled. 

The earliest of those who inspired these hopes, was Cor- 
vvine, who came to Cincinnati, from Kentucky, in 1817. His 
forte was portrait painting, which, at that time, was the only 
department of the Fine Arts by which an artist, in our country, 
could expect to acquire either profit or reputation. 

His likenesses were so accurate that a number of our citi- 
zens were desirous to have their portraits painted by him ; and 
also, that he should be perfected in his profession by studying 
under some eminent master. For this purpose — at the sugges- 
tion of Dr. Drake — they paid in advance for their portraits, so 
as to furnish him with funds to go to Philadelphia, and study 
under Sully, who, at that time, held a very high rank among 
artists. 

His improvement in acquiring the rules and modes of prac- 
tice, which were necessary to one who had had only his own 
genius and nature for instructors, was rapid ; and the portraits 
he painted on his return, have never been excelled in fidelity 
of likeness, and expression of character. Unfortunately, how- 
ever, many of his earliest works lost much of their value, by 
his adoption of a style of coloring, which has been found not 
to be permanent. This fault, however, he corrected, and his 
latest works exhibit none of this early defect. After residing 
here several years, he desired — as all artists do — to visit Eu- 



ACADEMY OF FINE ARTS. 201 

rope, in order to improve his taste and skill among the works 
of the great masters — works which cannot be studied except 
in the countries where the Arts arrived at their highest state of 
perfection. But his health had already begun to decline, and 
on his arrival in England, he found it failing so rapidly, that he 
did not venture to go to the continent, but returned to die in his 
native land. He did not live to reach his birth-place, in Ken- 
tucky, but died soon after his arrival at Philadelphia. His last 
painting — his own portrait — is a work that justifies the antici- 
pations of his friends, in relation to his progress in improvement, 
and gives additional keenness to our regret for the loss of an 
artist of so high an order of talents. This portrait is now in 
the possession of Henry Lea, Esq., of Alton. 

At Ihat period Eckstein resided here. He was the son of a 
distinguished artist, who flourished in Prussia, under the pa- 
tronage of Frederick the Great, of whom he brought a crayon 
portrait, taken after death, by his father. 

He was enthusiastic in his love of art, which was greater 
than his power to sustain the reputation his father had gained. 
He sought fame and fortune here, by modeling and multiplying 
in plaster casts, the busts of many of our distinguished men. 
Among them were those of Lafayette, De Witt Clinton, and 
Henry Clay ; but the demand for such works was not sufficient 
to encourage him to persevere in that pursuit. He afterwards 
opened a drawing school, but his patronage being still not sat- 
isfactory, he removed to Kentucky, and, having an intelligent, 
accomplished wife, he established a school for young ladies, 
which occupied the remainder of his life. 

Powers was a young man, whose talents were in progress of 
development, when Eckstein began to give us the likenesses of 
our eminent men, and he aided in modeling them ; deriving 
thereby a knowledge of some of the processes, and technical 
details of the art of sculpture. He had previous!}^ made me- 
dallion likenesses of some of his friends, with other works of 
art, in which great talents were exhibited. His mechanical 
skill, also, was very remarkable. His earliest friend was the 
late Luman Watson, who had, at that time, a clock factory in 
26 



202 SCHOOLS OF CINCINNATI. 

operation ; he, also, being an enthusiastic lover of music, un- 
dertook to build an organ, (we had then no organ-builder in 
the city,) and, justly appreciating Powers' mechanical talents, 
thought that their combined skill could construct that intricate 
and delicate instrument, although neither of them had any ex- 
perience in that department of art. They built the first organ 
erected in the Episcopal church, in Sixth street, and one or 
two chamber organs, all very good instruments. 

As Powers' inventive talents could not be idle, he, while en- 
gaged in the construction of organs, invented an instrument, 
which some one subsequently invented, and named the accor- 
deon. His instrument differed somewhat from the latter one, 
chiefly in the application of the wind, which was by a bellows, 
like that of a bag-pipe, under the arm. He also made a doll 
which, by the movement of its arms, would give forth very 
distinctly, the sounds papa and mamma, and proposed to con- 
struct a speaking automaton, which should utter all the sounds 
of the human voice. He did not, however, persevere in this 
design; perhaps he thought his automaton would not differ so 
much from the human speaking machines of which we have 
occasionally a superabundance, as to make it interesting. 

The Western Museum had been established in 1818, as a 
scientific institution, and was intended by its founders to be, not 
merely a show place, but a repository, where all the specimens 
of the natural history of the West should be collected, together 
with whatever else could be obtained of a nature suitable to 
such an institution. 

In 1820, Audubon was curator of the Museum, but did not 
long remain in that situation, as the pursuits by which he after- 
wards obtained his extensive celebrity as a naturalist, were too 
attractive to allow him to remain long out of the woods, or 
devote much attention to anything except his birds and his 
drawings. Dr. Best, who afterwards became Professor of 
Chemistry, in the Transylvania University, at Lexington, suc- 
ceeded him as curator ; but his tenure of that office was also 
short, for the Museum was sharing in the decline of public and 
private prosperity, and could not be sustained upon its original 



ACADEMY OF FINE ARTS. 203 

plan. After struggling for some time to support the institution, 
the directors, having become hopeless of its success, made an 
arrangement with J. Dorfeuille, a zealous naturalist from Lou- 
isiana, who had made some collections, and was seeking a 
suitable place for the establishment of a museum ; by which 
the collections already made by the Western Museum were 
transferred to his charge. 

Mr. Dorfeuille endeavored for some time to make the insti- 
tution what it was originally designed to be, and by courses of 
lectures on scientific subjects, by different individuals, to awa- 
ken such a taste among the citizens, as would make it a 
favorite place of resort, and thereby obtain the support neces- 
sary to its success. But it was soon discovered that the truths 
of natural science were not as attractive to the many, as the oc- 
casional errors of nature in her productions. That which was 
chiefly desired, was specimens of animals that did not exist, or 
of deformities that ought not to exist ; and for the gratification 
of this taste, a mermaid was obtained, which did good service, 
but not as good as it afterwards did to Barnum. A variety of 
monstrosities were also obtained, together with some monstrous 
caricatures of humanity in wax, which were so much admired 
that Dorfeuille applied to Powers, who was already exhibiting 
proofs of those talents which have since gained him his world- 
wide celebrity, for aid to increase his stock of wax figures, or 
rather replace them by some that should be worthy the admi- 
ration of persons who were so ready to admire everything of 
that kind. Powers complied with this request, and furnished 
some of the most exquisite specimens of wax figures that have 
ever been made. 

The "Infernal Regions" were also added to the Museum, 
and in these his mechanical talents were called into exercise, 
by the aid of which, ^nd his artistic skill, they were made so 
horribly attractive that they became a marked feature of our 
city, and when they were occasionally closed, it was duly 
announced in the newspapers. 

The success of this exhibition was now so great that Dor- 
feuille, like most men who are successful, wished to enlarge 



204 SCHOOLS OF CINCINNATI. 

and extend his business, and for this purpose removed it to 
New York, where he soon after died, and the " Infernal 
Regions," having no Powers to keep them in progress, lost 
their attractions, and were closed. Previous, however, to their 
removal from Cincinnati, Powers had determined to devote 
himself to the improvement of his talent for sculpture, and 
was desirous to see the celebrated works in that department of 
art in Europe, and to obtain those advantages for study that 
are supposed to exist only in Italy. To enable him to do this, 
Mr. Longworth very liberally offered to advance all the neces- 
sary funds; and, that he might not have his mind disturbed by 
pecuniary anxieties, promised to accept his drafts for any 
farther sums that might be necessary. His history, since his 
arrival in Italy, is well known, and his success is a source of 
pride to our country generally, and has fully justified the hopes 
of his friends here. He intended to remain but five years in 
Italy, but has not yet returned, to the regret of all who knew 
him here, and who loved him as much for his social virtues, his 
bonhomie and singleness of heart, as they admired him for his 
genius. He has lately, however, made arrangements for his 
return, and, as he has received a commission from our Govern- 
ment, to execute some works for the Capitol, it is to be hoped 
that this, with additional demands for the exercise of his talents, 
may induce him to remain. 

The earliest display of talents in the department of sculp- 
ture, exhibited in our city, was by John Airy, an Englishman, 
who, being discovered to be a very skillful chiseler of stone, by 
Daniel Gano, was employed by him to execute a monument to 
his father. General Gano, one of the pioneers of the city, of 
the highest class. This mausoleum, which is now in the Bap- 
tist cemetery, gives proof of great talents in the artist — talents 
which it was lamentable to see destroyed by the most debasing 
intemperance, from which all the eftoits of Mr. Gano — who 
endeavored, with the most friendly and Christian-like patience 
and perseverance, to restore him to respectability and useful- 
ness — could not deliver him. He lived long enough to finish 



ACADEMY OF FINE ARTS. 205 

the monument, and a few other works, of inferior value, 
though displaying great artistic skill ; but he eventually added 
another to the numerous victims sacrificed to King Alcohol — a 
potentate who sacrifices his subjects as remorsely as the king 
of Ashantee. 

Clevinger was a young lad employed in a stone-cutter's 
yard, in chiseling ornaments upon tomb-stones, when the late 
E. S. Thomas, editor of the Evening Post, accidentally noticed 
his work, and discovered marks of genius, which he thought 
ought to be encouraged. In order to test his talents as a 
sculptor, he, at Clevinger's request, sat to him for a bust. This 
was chiseled in the common gray free-stone of this region, 
without a model, and was so striking a likeness that it imme- 
diately brought him into notice, and enabled him, after pur- 
suing his vocation here for several years, to visit Italy, where 
Powers, who was already established, paid him all the atten- 
tion, and gave him all the aid and assistance necessary to a 
young artist in a foreign land. He resided some time in 
Rome, where he produced his fine statue of an American 
Indian, his busts of Judge Burnet and Genera] Harrison, with 
other works of merit. Finding his health declining, and hoping 
it might be restored by a return to his native land, but, if that 
could not be, that his last resting-place, at least, might be 
among his kindred, he embarked for America, but was not 
destined to have either of his hopes fulfilled. His grave was 
the Atlantic Ocean.* 

The earliest of our landscape painters was Lee, who, when a 
young lad, was employed in a chair-maker's establishment, in 
doing the ornamental work in the painting department. He 
there displayed so much genius as to attract notice, and he was 



* Of our other distinguished sculptors, Brackett, King, and Jones, now living, 
commenced their career in Cincinnati ; but the field for their talents was not suih- 
ciently extensive here, and they are now established in other cities, adding to their 
fame, and, we hope, to their fortunes. Baker, whose statue of Cincinnatus, executed 
in Italy, adorns the front of his beautiful building — devoted in part to the accommo- 
dation of the United States District Court, and in part to the extensive establishment, 
for making books, of Moore & Co. — has not been under the necessity of seeking 
Fortune abroad; she has sought him at home, and induced him to abandon the chisel. 



206 SCHOOLS OF CINCINNATI. 

encouraged to leave the shop, establish a studio, and traverse 
the country, for the purpose of seeking out and transferring to 
the canvas the beautiful scenes which nature has so profusely 
scattered around this region. He was very successful, and 
improved in taste and skill for several years; his latest works 
being of a high order, and comparing favorably with those of 
our most celebrated landscape painters, though he did not suc- 
ceed in portraits. He was employed at Louisville for some 
time in the decoration of some private dwellings, and in scene- 
painting, which, from his extraordinary talents, was made 
profitable, and afterwards went to Louisiana, where he died, at 
an early age, in the midst of a prosperous career. 

Hervieu was a Frenchman, a protege of the notorious Mrs, 
Trollope, in who^e company he came to this city, and remained 
under her patronage during her abode here, and accompanied 
her on her departure. A considerable portion of his time, 
during his residence here, was devoted to the decoration of the 
Bazaar — a building erected by his patroness, for the purpose of 
profit to herself, and of setting an example to the untutored 
denizens of these remote regions. It contained two halls — one 
of which was to be devoted to the sale of fancy merchandise, 
the other to balls, concerts, etc.; the rotunda, on the top of the 
building, was to be a place for the exhibition of pictures; and 
various other apartments were to serve other purposes of 
pleasure and profit to the citizens, and to their notable instruc- 
tress in the arts of acquiring and enjoying wealth. She was 
one of those European reformers who consider America a suit- 
able field for the exercise of their transcendent talents, and had 
been one of Miss Fanny Wright's associates at JN'ashoba, but 
soon discontinued that association. 

The walls of the two halls of the Bazaar were covered with 
paintings, and the ceiling of the large upper hall was very 
elaborately decorated. After the buildings had been sold to 
pay the mechanics who built it, and had passed through the 
hands of several owners, all these decorations were covered 
with whitewash — as striking an exhibition of Vandalism as the 
putting them on those walls was of folly; for although not 



ACADEMY OF FINE ARTS. 207 

works of very high art, they possessed too much merit to be 
defaced. 

Hervieu also painted a large historical picture, "The Land- 
ing of Lafayette in Cincinnati," containing portraits of many 
of our eminent citizens, among them those of General Harri- 
son and Governor Morrow. Although a work of merit above 
mediocrity, its brief exhibition here was not successful. It was 
taken to Frankfort, and from thence to some of the Eastern 
cities, and exhibited; but what was its final fate, we do not 
know, but should be glad to learn, as it is a work of consider- 
able interest and merit. 

Dawson was our only miniature painter at that time. He 
had been sent to Italy for education, and was respectable in 
his department. He died a few years after his return. 

E. B. Smith and Joseph Mason, also, were among our early 
artists, but only for a short time — the former emigrated to the 
South, the latter died. His portrait of William Woodward is 
the only likeness that was taken of this eminent philanthropist 
and benefactor of our city. It was painted by order of the 
City Council, and intended to adorn our City Hall, whenever 
such a building shall be a substantial reality. 

The Academy of Fine Arts began its operations in 1827. by 
the establishment of an exhibition which was intended to be 
the commencement of a permanent gallery. A considerable 
collection of the works of our artists was obtained, together 
with all the works of merit in private houses which could be 
borrowed for the exhibition. Eckstein was appointed curator, 
and a board of directors exerted their best efforts to carry into 
effect the design of the establishment. But it was soon dis- 
covered that the period for the commencement of such an 
institution had not yet arrived. The city did not afford suffi- 
cient support, and "our country customers" did not think it 
necessary to pay for the sight of pictures in a gallery, when 
they could see plenty of them on signs and showbills for 
nothing. The institution, therefore, languished and died. A 
school for mechanical and architectural drawing, which was 
part of its plan, was, however, afterwards established in the 



208 SCHOOLS OF CINCINNATI. 

Mechanics' Institute, with good success. It occupied the 
rotunda of the Bazaar, but ceased with the removal of the 
Institute from that building. 

Another institution with the same title as its predecessor's, 
viz . " The Cincinnati Academy of Fine Arts," was chartered 
ten years after the first, when a new generation of artists arose 
that knew not the old institution. This was directed and man- 
aged exclusively by artists, G. N. Frankenstein being President, 
and John L. Whetstone, Secretary ; the former then beginning 
to acquire that eminence he has attained as a landscape 
painter, and the latter exhibiting promising talents as a sculp- 
tor, which department of art, he soon relinquished for mechan- 
ical pursuits, and the brilliant invention of the Orograph,) a 
joint work of his friend, G. E. Sellers, and himself.) is a testimony 
of his mechanical genius which justifies his abandonment of 
the sculptor's chisel. 

This second Academy established an exhibition, but it did 
not continue long in existence ; the error in its plan — that of 
being controlled by artists — would have been fatal if no other 
cause of decline had existed. 

In the " Cincinnati Society for the Promotion of Useful 
Knowledge," a department of the fine arts was organized, and 
in the courses of lectures in that institution, some very interest- 
ing ones were delivered by Beard, and E. P. Cranch, and John 
Cranch, and that section of the society gave good promise of 
usefulness, which, if it had continued in existence, would, prob- 
ably, have supplied the want, which was so generally felt, of an 
institution devoted to the encouragment of the fine arts. 

After the extinction of two academies and one section of 
Fine Arts, most of those who had been active in efforts for their 
encouragement and promotion, had adopted the opinion that it 
would be best to let them take their course, and be governed 
by the laws of trade — or of taste — and flourish or fade accord- 
ing to those laws. The establishment, however, of the Ameri- 
can Art Union, at New York, awakened again the dormant 
energies of the lovers of art in Cincinnati, and the Western 
Art Union was established on a similar plan. 



ACADEMY OF FINE ARTS. 209 

This institution, under the Presidency of Mr. Stetson, was 
popular for several years, and distributed many works of great 
merit — among them, one of Power's statues of the Greek Slave ; 
and its gallery was much visited. But, as it had followed the 
example of the New York institution in its rise, it was thought 
proper to continue to follow its footsteps in its fall : although, 
as it had a permanent charter, with legal permission to pursue 
the course it had adopted, the same reason did not exist for its 
fall as for that of its prototype. 

A project for the establishment of a Gallery of National 
Portraits was then set on foot, and the collection of the portraits 
of the heroes and sages of the Revolution, made by Peale, and 
formerly constituting a very attractive portion of Peale's Mu- 
seum, in Philadelphia, was purchased, with many other pictures, 
and a gallery opened for their exhibition. The existence of 
this institution was, however, more brief than that of its pre- 
decessors. The paintings, from some mysterious cause, were 
taken away, and the institution, like an unsubstantial pageant, 
vanished. 

The love of the fine arts, however, remains, and efforts in 
their behalf are still renewed in spite of the discouraging 
failures of the various projects for their benefit of which we 
have spoken. A " Ladies' Gallery of the Fine Arts," is now in 
progress, which, it is supposed, will show to the world that 
woman is not only capable of displaying a greater degree of 
good taste than man, but that the virtues of patience and perse- 
verence will be exhibited by her more decidedly. The plan of 
this institution is, to procure for exhibition here, copies of the 
most celebrated works of the " old masters," by artists of such 
reputation and talents that their copies may be accepted as 
authentic. Copies in plaster, also, of the finest statues in 
Europe are to be imported, and thus opportunities will be af- 
forded to young artists of studying these models without cross- 
ing the Atlantic. Mrs. Peter, the foundress of the institution, 
has visited Europe for the purpose of carrying its objects into 
effect, and there can be no doubt that everything that can be 
accomplished by energy, good taste, and persevering effort, will 
speed the progress of the institution. 27 



210 SCHOOLS OF CINCINNATI. 

Such an establishment appears very appropriate in a city 
which is constantly sending forth numbers of artists, and cher- 
ishing at home more, probably, than any other of our cities. 
Of our painters who have gone abroad, Kellogg, Powell, and 
Whittridge have acquired European fame in addition to their 
reputation at home, and Read has obtained celebrity, both as a 
painter and poet. Brannan, Hall Martin, Stanley, Mrs. Lilly 
Martin, McLenan, John Cranch, Soule, Leslie, Sontag, Walcutt, 
G. N. Frankenstein, and others, have removed their studios to 
other cities. Beard vibrates between this and other places, but 
belongs to Cincinnati, as do, also, Johnston, Eaton, Duncanson, 
Spinning, Baldwin, J. P. Frankenstein, Williams, Cridland, 
Miller, natives of the West, with Aubery and Colhere, in paint- 
ing ; Bullet, in sculpture ; and Fazzia in modeling and casting 
copies — Europeans — who, with others, give proof that Cincin- 
nati, although constantly sending artists abroad in search of 
fortune, fame, or improvement in skill and taste, is still the home 
of many artists of great merit.* 

Of amateur artists, we have a number ; at their head Adams, 
— who, if he would relinquish " low ambition " for "high art," 
— if he would preside over the easel instead of the City Fathers, 
could give us another eminent artist to boast of; Symmes, 
whose critical skill has benefited most of our young artists, 
and who, in his collection of profiles, has preserved the features 
of all the distinguished strangers who, in former times, have 
visited our city; McConkey, whose talents in landscape paint- 
ing have been cultivated with good success at home and abroad; 
and E. P. Cranch, whose mirth inspiring sketches with the 
pencil are unsurpassed in power over the facial muscles — are 
wasting their talents in common place pursuits, and treating 
the arts with a degree of neglect they do not merit. 

The history of the fine arts and artists in Cincinnati, although 



*Our bright suns and clear atmosphere are peculiarly favorable to the Daugurrean 
art; and the Mezzographs, Photographs, Solographs, &c., of Porter, of Hawkins, and 
of Paris, give proofs that the facilities that nature gives have been dilligently im- 
proved. Of Daugucrreotypists, the number is great, the merit, as well as the prices 
of their works, various. 



ACADEMY OF FINE ARTS. 211 

it would embrace but a short period of time, would, in detail, 
fill a larger volume than this, in which a slight sketch has been 
attempted. It is indeed, partly, an obituary of departed in- 
stitutions, but it is, also, a record of names which will live as 
long as the arts are cherished, and their influence in promoting 
the progress of refinement acknowledged : as long as we feel 
and know that " the tendency of the fine arts is ever to awaken 
and cherish those feelings and sentiments, which peculiarly 
distinguish the intellectual being ; which perfect all the conve- 
niences, as well as embellish all the luxuries of life, and which 
mark most distinctly the progress and state of civilization. They 
are not merely the proof, but an important part of the causes 
of public prosperity ; and where they are neglected, riches will 
seldom or never increase the happiness of any people. If we 
valued them only for their power to preserve the features and 
countenances of those who have enobled human nature, or of 
those dear to us from the ties of affection and friendship ; for 
the power to make permanent to the eye as well as the imag- 
ination, those historic deeds which are the sources of a nation's 
pride and glory ; or their ability to give life and being a " local 
habitation and a name,' to the bright and beautiful creations 
of genius ; if, I say, we valued them for those powers alone, they 
are for these sufficiently valuable to authorise and reward our 
efforts in their behalf." 

But these do not constitute the only advantages we derive 
from their influence. " Under all forms of government their 
power is felt for the benefit of the human race — to the free and 
enlightened they have ever been a source of pride and delight, and 
under despotic governments they are the only resource of hum- 
bled "genius. The architectural remains of Persepolis, of Pal- 
myra, of Balbec, of Elephantis, inspire us with a sympathy and 
respect for people and states, whose names, but for such monu- 
ments of their taste, would long since have been forgotten, and 
their former skill in the fine arts alone preserves the remem- 
brance, and gives us all the knowledge we possess of their his- 
tory. To religion they have ever rendered their first homage, and 
exerted their highest powers in diffusing the knowledge of its 



212 SCHOOLS OF CINCINNATI. 

history, and of the deeds of those who have lived its heroes 
and died its martyrs. And if, at some times and under some 
circumstances they have been perverted, and brought into sub- 
servience to vicious purposes, this is but another proof that there 
is nothing human above the reach of evil, and nothing on earth 
worth possessing that we ought not carefully to guard against 
contamination. 



CHAPTER XXIV. 



THE LANE SEMINARY. 

The title of this institution was^bestowed upon it in honor of 
Mr. Ebenezer Lane, who first endowed it, and who was a native 
of the State of Maine, and, at the time of its foundation,'was 
engaged in mercantile business at New Orleans. It was the 
object of Mr. Lane to establish an institution in which manual 
labor should be combined with study in such a manner as to 
render the course of education more healthy and less expensive 
to the pupils than it could be at any one of our other existing 
seminaries of education. 

The design was to establish a classical and theological insti- 
tution, so organized as to enable pupils to begin and finish their 
studies without changing their Alma Mater. 

He was, himself, a member of the Baptist denomination, but 
not bigoted : on the contrary, he was willing that the institution 
should be controlled by a different (if evangelical) denomination, 
provided it could thereby be made more successful, and more 
extensively beneficial. For its endowment, he assigned a sum 
of four thousand dollars, to be paid in four annual instalments, 
and one-fourth of the profits of the business of his house in 
New Orleans, thereafter. From the last named source nothing 
was derived. 

This, which was considered the mere foundation of an en- 
dowment, was to be increased by the contributions that might 
be obtained through the efforts of the denomination that should 
gain the control of the institution, w^hich control was to be 
acquired by successful efforts in procuring funds for the endow- 
ment. The Baptists at that time (1827) not being able to 
promise as efficient aid as the Presbyterians, the latter obtained 
the control, and immediately began to make exertions for 



214 SCHOOLS OF CINCINNATI. 

increasing the endowment to the necessary extent, and in this 
they were eminently successful. A donation of sixty acres of 
land was made by Mr. Elnathan Kemper, of Walnut Hills, 
from the north end of his farm, and a sale of forty acres more 
on terms very avantageous to the institution. On this land 
the buildings of the Seminary are located, together with the 
greatest portion of the village of Walnut Hills, the land being 
leased on ground rents, from which revenue is derived for the 
support of the institution. 

The additions which were necessary to the endowment were 
chiefly collected in our eastern cities. Twenty thousand dol- 
lars was the subscription of Arthur Tappan,the interest of which 
was to be paid during his life, and the principal at his death. 
It was, however, a condition of this donation, that Rev. Lyman 
Beecher should be the President of the institution, which condi- 
tion was complied with, and the interest paid for a few years, 
after which payment was declined — "for want of funds." It 
was also constituted, that ten thousand dollars should be ob- 
tained for the foundation of another Professorship, and that 
twenty thousand dollars should be contributed in the West for 
buildings. These conditions, also, were fulfilled, and, subse- 
quently, forty thousand dollars more were subscribed at the 
East, and a considerable]sum at the West. The whole amount — 
exclusive of the Kemper donation — received, from subscriptions, 
was ninety-six thousand dollars ; the whole amount subscribed, 
was about forty thousand dollars more. 

The organization of a Faculty was made by the appointment 
of Dr. Beecher, President; Rev. Calvin E. Stowe^ — an eminent 
Oriental scholar — Professor of Biblical Literature ; Rev. Baxter 
Dickenson, Professor of Sacred Rhetoric and Pastoral Theol- 
ogy — succeeded afterwards by the Rev. D. H. Allen — and the 
Rev. T. J. Biggs, Professor of Church History and Polity. 

The object of establishing a manual labor school, which was 
the favorite project of Mr. Lane — as it was of many others of 
the contributors — was not successful. For several years the 
plan was attempted to be carried into successful practice, but 
was finally relinquished ; and, we believe, all the attempts to 



LANE SEMINARY. 215 

establish such schools has the same termination. The reasons 
for the unfortunate results of all efforts for such an object are 
worthy of investigation, and of a more close scrutiny than has 
been devoted to a subject so important. 

It is to be hoped that our Farmers' College may succeed in 
ascertaining and removing the obstacles to the success of such 
efforts. 

The operations of the Lane Seminary were, for several years, 
embarrassed by the contest between the two parties into which 
the Presbyterian denomination is divided, for the control of the 
institution. This contest was finally decided by legal adju- 
dication, in favor of the New School. Before this decision, 
changes had been made in the Faculty by the resignation of 
Dr. Beecher, and Professors Stowe and Biggs : the Literary 
department had also been discontinued. 

In 1836, previous to the resignation of Professor Stowe, he 
visited Europe for the purpose of procuring a library for the 
Seminary — a considerable sum (about $10,000) having been 
given for that object. He returned with a very valuable and 
well selected stock of books, which, with some additions, con- 
stitute the present library of the institution. During his visit, 
he made inquiries respecting the state of public education, and 
the systems adopted in the various countries of Europe, espec- 
ially among the German States, with special reference to pri- 
mary schools, and, on his return, prepared a very interesting 
and valuable report, " On the course of Instruction in the 
Common Schools of Prussia and Wirtemburg," which was pub- 
lished in the fourth volume of the " Transactions of the College 
of Teachers." This report had a favorable influence in aiding 
to arouse public attention to our common school system, and 
compare it with that of other countries. The report of a well 
organized system of common schools, under monarchial gov- 
ernments, was, to a large portion of our people, a new revela- 
tion. It had, generally, been supposed, that common schools 
were peculiarly Republican institutions, and that they would 
be feared rather than patronised by royalty. 



216 SCHOOLS OF CINCINNATI. 

We were required by the strongest dictates of patriotism to 
avail ourselves of all information which might aid in improv- 
ing our system of education, so that its should be, like our po- 
litical system, (of which we consider it a most important part,) 
superior to that of any country. The attention which this re- 
port awakened — although its immediate effects were felt but by 
a small portion of the population — stimulated the efforts which 
our common school system required for its improvement, and 
for its more hearty and general adoption. For there were still 
dark corners of our State where the system was regarded with 
apathy, or a worse feeling ; but the influence of the intelligent 
and enlightened could be felt even in those parts, when it was 
seen and known that it was exerted solely for the public good. 

The Theological course at the Lane Seminary occupies three 
years, and we quote from the fifth "Annual Report," a table of 
the studies, and the authors whose works serve for text books : 

FIKST CLASS. 

1. Bihlical Geography and Antiquities. — Kobinson's Calmet; Jahn's Arch- 
aeology, translated by Prof. Upham ; Harmer's Observations , Burder's 
Oriental Customs and Oriental Literature ; Works of Reland, Bochart, 
Lightfoot, and Selden ; Biblical Repository ; Modern Traveler. 

3. Principles of Bihlical Interpretation. — Stuart's Ernesti ; Morus and Keil, 
Hermeneutica ; Gerard's Listitutcs ; Bishop Marsh's Lectures; Camp- 
bell's (Dr. George) Dissertation ; Plauck's Introduction, translated by 
Prof. Turner. 

3. General Introduction to the Old and New Testament, and Particular 

Introduction to the Pentateuch, Gospels, and Acts. — Jahn's Introduction 
to the Old Testament, translated by Prof. Turner ; Hug's Introduction 
to the New Testament, translated and published at Andover ; Home's 
Introduction ; Carpzov and Walton ; Marsh's Micha?lis. 

4. Interpretation of the Gospel in Harmony and the Acts. — Calvin, Com. 

in Evan. Har.; Newcome's Harmony, Robinson's edition; Stuart's 
Grammar of N. T.; Rosenmueller, Scholia in Nov. Test.; Kuinoel, Com. 
in Lib. Hist. Nov. Test.; Campbell (Dr. G.) on the Gospels; Doddridge's 
Expositor; Buddeus' EcclesiaApostolica ; Neander's Apostolic Church? 
translated by Prof. Robinson. 

5. Interpretation of the Historical Writings of Moses. — Calvin, Com. in 

Liv, Mos.; Rosenmueller, Scholia in Pent.; Turner's Sacred History of 
the World ; Michaels, Commentaries on the Laws of Moses, translated 
by Dr. Smith ; Warburton's Divine Legation of Moses. 



LANE SEMINARY. 217 

CLASSICAL READING. 

Portions of the Historical Writings of Herodotus, Tacitus, Suetonius, 
illustrative of the Old and New Testament History. 

SECOND CLASS. 

6. Particular Introduction to several books of the Old and New Testaments. 

Same as No. 3. Also, works of Origen, Jerome, and Lardner. 

7. Hebrew Poetry., including Figurative and Symbolic Language of Scrip- 

ture. — Lowth's Lectures on Hebrew Poetry, with notes by C. E. Stowe. 
Herder's Spirit of Hebrew Poetry, translated by Prof. Marsh ; Sir Wm. 
Jones, Comment, in Poes. Asiat. 
Q. Interpretation of Job, Psalms, Proverbs, and Ecclcsiastes. — Calvin, Com. 
in Lib. Psalm ; do. do. in Jobum ; Eosenmueller, Scholia in Psalmos 
Jobum, at Scripta Salomonis ; Noyes on Job and Psalms ; Dr. Good on 
Job ; Horsley on Psalms ; Bush on Psalms. 

9. Epistles to Romans, Corinthians, Timothy, Hebreius, and 1 Peter. — 

Calvin, Com. in Epistolas ; Jaspis, Versio Epistolarum ; Stuart on 
Romans and Hebrews ; Leighton on Peter ; McKnight on the Epistles ; 
Doddridge's Expositor ; Rosenmueller, Scholia in Nov. Test. 

CLASSICAL READING. 

Cicero de Officiis and Xenophon's Memorabilia of Socrates. 
THIRD YEAR. 

10. Nature and Fulfilment of Prophecy, particularly in reference to the 

Messiah. — Prof. Smith's Scripture Testimony, vol. 1 ; Hengstenbero-, 

Christologie, translated by Prof. Keith ; Hurd's Lectures on Prophecy; 

Horsley's Sermons on Prophecy ; Witsius de Prophetia ; Newton on 

the Prophecies. 
IL Interpretation of Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Nahum. — Calvin, Com. in Pro- 

phetas , Rosenmueller, Scholia in Lib. Proph.; Vitringa, Com. in Jesa- 

iam ; Lowth on Isaiah. 
12. Revelation in connection ivith Ezekiel and Daniel. — Eichhorn in Apoca- 

lypsin ; Calvin, as in No. 11 ; Rosenmueller, as in No. 11 ; Rosenmueller, 

Scholia in Nov. Test.; Jasta, Vitringa, and Bush. 

CLASSICAL READING. 

Cicero de Devinatione and de Nat. Deorum, and Plato's Phaedo. 



Note.— It is not to be supposed that the books of the Bible above mentioned are to 
be interpreted throughout, in the lectures, in the form of commentary. The pecu- 
liarities of each book are to be brought to view, an analysis of the contents drawn out, 
the most characteristic and difficult passages explained, and directions given for the 
interpretation of the whole. As opportunity may be found during the course, a few 
lectures vrill be given on Bibliography. 
28 



218 SCHOOLS OF CINCINNATI. 



11. CHURCH HISTORY AND POLITY. 

1 Chronology. — Hales' Analysis, with references to Spanheira, Usher, Light- 
foot, Newton, Playfair. 

2. Ecclesiastical Geography. — Hale's, Home's Introduction ; Russel's Pal- 

estine ; Russel's Egypt , Shimeall's Chart ; Malte Brun's Geography ; 
Butler's Geography. 

3. Church History. — Text hooks for the whole course are Lampe, translated 

from the Latin, with notes from Josephus, Eusebius, Spanheim, and 
Buddeus ; Murdock's Mosheim ; Milner, and Geiseler's Church History, 

(a) Church before Advent of Christ. — Josephus ; Stackhouse, History of 
Bible; Shuckford ; Prideaux ; Jahn's Heb. Com., translated by Prof. 
Stowe. 

(b) Apostolic Church. — Magdeburg Centuriators ; Neander's Apostolic 
Church, translated by Prof. Robinson ; Buddeus ; Cave's Lives of the 
Apostles. 

(c) Church before the time of Constantine. — Lardner's Works, and Mo- 
sheim's Dissertations. 

(d) Oriental Church. — Text books as specified in No. 3. 

(e) Western Church. — Text books as above. 

(f) General Church History from Mahommed to the Reformation. — Pri- 
deaux's Life of Mahommed ; Bush's do. 

(g) Reformation. — Milner ; Villiers ; Scott ; Bower's Life of Luther ; Coxe's 
Life of Melancthon ; Robertson's Charles V. 

(h) Roman Catholic Church. — Authors as above, with Campbell's Lectures 
on Church History, 

(i) Protestant Church, i?icluding National and Dissenting Churches. — 
Neal's History of Puritans ; McCries Life of Knox ; Cook's History of 
the Church of Scotland ; Beza's Life of Calvin ; Waterman's do.; Luv- 
all's History of Protestant Churches in France ; Bogue and Bennet's 
History; Gough's History of Quakers ; Brownlee's do.; Coke's Life of 
Wesley; Watson's do.; Buck's Theological Dictionary. 

4. Dogmatic History. — Magdeburg Centuriators ; Muenscher's Manual ; 

translated by Prof. Murdock ; Doederlein's Institutio ; Storr and Flatt> 
translated by Professor Schmucker ; Knapp's Theology, translated by 
Woods. 

5. Church Polity. — Hooker's Church Polity; Ayton on Church Government; 

Potter on do.; Miller's Letter's on Episcopacy ; Miller's Ruling Elder; 
King's Primitive Church. 

6. Sacraments. — Wall's History of Infant Baptism ; Gale's Reply to Wall; 

Woods on Infant Baptism ; Adam's View of Religions; Owen, Charnock 
and Watts on Lord's Supper. 

7. History of Missions. — Brown's History; Lord's do.; Oldenthorp's ]^His- 

tory of Moravian Missions. 



LANE SEMINARY. 219 



III. SYSTEMATIC THEOLOGY. 

1. Cause and Effect. — Brown, Hume, Berkely, and Beattie. 

2. Mental Philosophy. — Locke, Stewart, Brown, Abercrombie, Upham, Buf- 

fier's First Truths, Butler's Analogy and Sermons. 

3. Atheism, its History , Hypothesis, Arguments, Objections, and Folly. — Cud- 

worth's Intellectual System, Brucker's and Enfield's History of Philos- 
ophy, and R. Bentley's Folly of Atheism. 

4. The Being, Character, and Attributes of God. — Locke, Clark, Berkley, 

Bates, Paley, Dwight, and Turretin. 

5. Reason, Light of Nature, Necessity of Revelation. — Knapp's Theology, 

Leland's Necessity of Revelation and View of Deistical Writers, De- 
ism Revealed, Dwight on Infidel Philosophy, and Appleton's Lectures. 

6. The Truth and Inspiration of tlie Bible. — Storr's and Piatt's Biblical The- 

ology, Lardner's Credibility, Paley's Evidences and Horas Paulinas, 
Chalmers' Works, Lyttleton on the Conversion of St. Paul, Watson's 
Apologies, Leslie's Short Method, Hume, Campbell and Farmer on 
Miracles, Witherspoon, Bogue's Essay, Gospel its own Witness, and 
Wilson's and Mcllvaine's Evidences. 

7. Doctrines of Revelation. — Augustine, Calvin, Turretin, Van Maestricht, 

J. Edwards, J. Edwards, jr., Bellamy, West, Smalley, Witherspoon' 
Dwight, Hopkins, A. Fuller, Whitby, Burton's Essays, Spring's Dis- 
quisitions, Emmons, Magee on Atonement, Cole on Divine Sovereignty, 
Backus on Regeneration, Bates', Baxter's, and Howe's Works, Watt's 
Sermons, Doddridge's Lectures, and Owen's Works. 

8. The Church, its Officers and Institutions. — Calvin's Institutes, Campbell's 

Lectures on Church History, Rutherford's Rights of Presbyteries, Owen's 
Inquiry, Chauncey's View of Episcopacy, Miller's Letters on the Min- 
istry and Eldership, and Horsley and Gurney on the Sabbath. 

The doctrines taught in this Seminary will be understood by 
those acquainted with the character of the text books used. 
The difficulties the institution has encountered in its progress — 
to the most important of which we have referred — have been 
obviated ; and there has been a gradual increase in its classes. 
Although some " deep scars of old wounds do remain," yet a 
hope may be entertained that the institution may now be re- 
garded as in a healthful and prosperous condition. 



CHAPTER XXV. 



PRIVATE FEMALE SCHOOLS. 

Education begins with the infant in the cradle. The mother 
alone sows the first seeds of knowledge, and lays the earliest 
foundation of character. The language of the heart is hers ; and 
before that of speech is understood, its influence begins, and it 
remains forever. The good and great of all countries and all 
ages have borne testimony to the benign influences of the teach- 
ings of their mothers, to which, more than to any other cause, 
they have attributed the greatness or goodness they achieved, 

The importance of having females so educated morally, 
intellectually, and physically, that to that portion of the educa- 
tion of their offspring which is derived from them, a proper 
direction may be given, cannot be too highly estimated. Our 
young women must be fitted to become mothers of freemen — 
of Christians — of patriots. 

National prosperity and individual happiness are dependent 
on female culture ; and due attention to the subject is not only 
a moral, but a political obligation. The best foundation for 
our hopes in relation to the future of our country is the exten- 
sive and increasing acknowledgement of this doctrine. 

We have, in the example of the abominations of Mormon- 
ism, a warning of greater significance, and more fearful aspect, 
than has ever before been exhibited in any Christian nation. 
The possibility that women would, if free to act, voluntarily 
form a portion of such a community, would be incredible, if we 
had not witnessed the astounding fact that their ignorance may 
be such as to sink them so low in the scale of civilization as to 
become Mormon wives. It can only be accounted for by 
referring to that skepticism which rejects Christianity, and is 
then ready to believe anything, however monstrous and absurd, 
that may be oifered as a system of religious belief. 



PRIVATE FEMALE SCHOOLS. 221 

We have already spoken of our public institutions for female 
education, and a cursory mention of some private seminaries, 
in addition, may authorize us to assume that, if our females 
should not hereafter be well educated, it will not be for want of 
numerous institutions and competent teachers. Parents and 
guardians have not only the opportunity of choosing between 
city and suburban localities, for public seminaries, but also 
that of selecting among a number of private schools and 
academies, in all of which are taught the sciences and accom- 
plishments considered necessary to female education, though 
differing somewhat in relation to the prominence given to dif- 
ferent studies. 

Professor McLeod's school for young ladies was removed to 
this city about two years ago, from Tennessee, where it had 
been established under the patronage of Bishop Otey, and 
gained a high reputation; but the buildings having been 
entirely destroyed by lire, it was necessary to remove the insti- 
tution ; and, after much consultation with man}^ friends of 
female education, particularly Bishop Smith, of Kentucky, who 
has had the experience of many years as principal of the 
celebrated private seminary near Louisville, it was considered 
most expedient to remove the institution to this city. 

Harding's Female Seminary was established soon after the 
destruction of the Cincinnati College, and the dispersion of its 
faculty, of which he was one ; and it has been so prosperous 
that it is considered a permanent institution. It comprises 
teachers in all the branches taught in our seminaries of the 
highest class, and a large body of pupils constitute a testimo- 
nial of approbation of the conduct of the school, on the part of 
parents and guardians. 

" The Cincinnati Female Seminary" is the title of an institu- 
tion established some years since, which has been so successful 
that a building is about to be erected for its accommodation. 
Its faculty comprises teachers of Moral Philosophy, Ancient 
Languages, Mathematics, Natural Science, English branches, 
Music, Penmanship, Drawing, French, and German. It is 
under the charge of T. A. Burrowes, Principal, with a teacher 
in each of the above-named branches. 



222 SCHOOLS OF CINCINNATI. 

Another Female Seminary, which is under the charge of 
Miss Appleton, has lately been established, of which high 
expectations are entertained; but it has not been long enough 
in operation to enable us to give any details respecting its 
progress. 

The Nunnery, a Roman Catholic institution, under the 
management of the "Sisters of Notre Dame," devoted to the 
education of young ladies, has been established many years, 
and has been constantly increasing its accommodations, until 
they have become very extensive. A number of pupils from 
Protestant families have been educated there formerly ; the 
proportion of this class of pupils has, however, been decreasing 
with the increase of the various seminaries of Protestant denom- 
inations. The system of education adopted at this institution 
includes religious observances similar to those of the denomi- 
nation in all its seminaries of education, with the usual accom- 
plishments and branches of knowledge that are considered 
necessary to female education. 

A Pestalozzian school for young children of both sexes, has 
been established by Dr. Cristin, formerly a teacher in our 
public schools, and a graduate of the Miami Medical College; 
but it has not been in operation long enough to enable us to 
epeak of its progress. 



CHAPTER XXVI. 



Private academies for boys. 

When Kinmont established his classical Academy, he placed 
on the outer wall, over the door, this inscription : 

" Nil dictu foedum visuque hsec limina taugat, 
Intra quoe puer est — Procul o procul este profani, 
Maxima debetur puero reverentia." 

A motto expressive of the duty which he felt to be assumed 
by every teacher who undertakes the instruction of youth, to 
guard them from contamination by sights or sounds of vice : 
and none ever felt it in its purity and proper sense more fully 
than Kinmont. The last line did not, with him, as with many 
parents, signify any requirements of reverence for the follies or 
vices of boys : on the contrary, his discipline was rigid, and 
generally accounted severe, but it was so just and impartial 
that even those who were most frequently subjected to it, 
learned to consider him, not a tyranical ruler, but a benefactor, 
and true friend, and the biography prefixed to his lectures, is a 
tribute to his memory by one of his grateful pupils. 

It is seldom that a teacher, with qualities fitting him 
specially for his office, such as Kinmont possessed, can be 
found ; but we have always had private seminaries of a high 
class, conducted by teachers eminently qualified for the office of 
educators ; and, at the present time, we have a greater number 
than ever. 

In a city with such a system of well ordered public schools, 
and two such high schools as those of Cincinnati, it would be 
absurd to establish a private academy, unless it should be of 



224 SCHOOLS OF CINCINNATI. 

the highest class ; a mere common-place teacher, who should 
attempt to exercise his vocation here, would soon discover 
that he had chosen the wrong field for the exercise of his talents. 

After the destruction of the Cincinnati College,'Mr, J. Heron, 
who had been one of its Facultj^ established a private Acad- 
emy, which he has ever since conducted with such success and 
increasing reputation, that it has become one of our permanent 
institutions of learning. 

Some years since, the Rev. Dr. Colton established an insti- 
tution with the title of St, John's College, upon a plan differing 
somewhat from our other colleges, but not enough to give it 
notoriety from that cause. It was a chartered institution, but 
depending, for its support, on the tuition fees of the pupils, 
exclusively, which were found to be insufficient for the support 
of an institution on so extensive a scale, and requiring so great 
an amount of expense ; it failed after two or three years, 
although many parents preferred it, to any other seminary, for 
their sons. The Academy of Mr. Chas. Matthews, (formerly 
professor in the Woodward College,) which succeeded it, has 
been successful and flourishing from the time of its estab- 
lishment. 

The Academy of Mr. R. P. Brooks, is another institution of 
this class, which aid in maintaining the reputation of Cin- 
cinnati, as a city in which the education of youth — from the 
excellence of its seminaries for that purpose — is seen to be a 
matter of high importance, and one of the best of her founda- 
tions for assuming the proud title of the " Queen City of the 
West." 

A select school for boys, by J. B. Chickering, is a recent 
establishment, in which the ancient and modern languages are 
taught, with the ordinary branches of instruction in other 
schools. 

Professor Lippitt's institution for boys, is on a broad scale, 
embracing a very extensive curriculum, and the usual requisites 
for a high school. 



PRIVATE ACADEMIES FOR BOYS. 225 

All these academies have such professors and tutors, as are 
necessary to carry their systems of education into full effect. 
These, generally, embrace all the branches of instruction 
adopted in our colleges and high schools, and some having a 
commercial department, are, on that account, preferred for the 
education of boys intended for commercial pursuits. 

There are in the city, besides these. Commercial Colleges, as 
they are denominated, where, as their title imports, the princi- 
pal, or sole object^ is to qualify pupils for the mercantile pro- 
fession. Book -keeping is the principal department of instruction 
in these institutions, of which three, viz : Bartlett's, Gundry's, 
and Bacon's, are of long standing. Smith's is more recent. 
Penmanship, and the principles of commercial law are taught, 
and the graduates are considered as qualified for all the duties 
of the counting-house. The pupils are not classed, but pursue 
their studies separately, and each individual devotes as much 
attention to any one branch of knowledge as he thinks proper; 
but the graduates are required to master all the different branches 
of instruction of the institution. 

With such a system of free schools, as Cincinnati possesses, 
including its high schools, and intermediate schools, the ex- 
tensive patronage of so many private academies, is a proof 
of our assumption, that this city is more remarkable for the 
due appreciation of the importance of education, than for 
any of the characteristics by which she has been considered as 
particularly distinguished. 

This element of her prosperity has, in all the periods of 
commercial distress, been preserved — this sacred fire has not 
been extinguished by floods, by epidemics, by the persecutions 
of party politics, or any other of the enemies she has had to 
encounter. To this, more than to any other, cause may be 
attributed her immediate rise, after every storm that has passed 
over her, and the strengthening of her roots by the agitations 
of every tempest. 

In a city of which so great a proportion of its inhabitants 
are of foreign birth, and who are to be made American citizens, 
not only by law, but by sentiment, and a due estimate of the 
29 



226 SCHOOLS OF CINCINNATI. 

value of republican institutions, our systems of education are 
peculiarly important. For, although the greatest portion of 
this class are Germans, who are generally better educated, than 
most other foreigners, yet that verj'^ circumstance may, in the 
eyes of parents, lessen the estimate of the great importance of 
an American education for their children — an education, not 
only American in language, but in the due comprehension of 
the duties they assume in becoming American citizens. A 
want of this comprehension is the evil which has excited so 
extensive a desire to restrict the political influence of citizens 
of foreign birth, at our elections. And this desire is reasonable 
— it is necessary to the preservation of our institutions; and no 
complaint of injustice from it, will be made by any reasonable 
and intelligent foreigner. We have tried the experiment of 
being more liberal in granting political privileges than any 
other nation, and the experiment is considered a failure by an 
immense portion of our native citizens. It has sometimes been a 
means — as used by our demagogues — of giving power into the 
hands of a minority, and thus undermining the foundation of 
our republican institutions. The only safeguard of these insti- 
tutions, and of our social happiness, is the education of our 
children in the principles of Christian religion, and in a knowl- 
edge of the true basis of our political institutions, which that 
religion alone can render permanent. 



CONCLUSION 



Among the dullest of tasks, is the effort to prove what no one 
denies — to bring forward arguments or examples to establish 
facts or doctrines that are considered as already established- 
And yet this is one of the most important of all the duties of 
the philanthropist, and the most necessary of the lessons of 
public instructors. 

The value — the absolute necessity — of early and general 
education to the preservation of free institutions is now (at 
least in all free States) universally admitted ; and the favorable 
influences of temperance, in promoting the health and hap- 
piness of individuals, and the general well being of commu- 
nities, is not doubted. And yet the need of bringing forward, 
continually, every possible argument and exemplification in 
proof of the universally admitted necessity of that duty, and 
this virtue seems to increase with the decrease of opponents 
— with the want of arguments to contend against, and of ad- 
versaries to overcome. 

This necessity has appeared to justify the present work, the 
object of which has been not to give statistics — these are given 
in the annual reports of the superintendents and directors of our 
public institutions — but to bring into notice facts and illustra- 
tions to support the doctrines we advocate. These doctrines are, 
that general education is necessary not only to the moral and 
political welfare of nations and individuals, but also to their econ- 
omical prosperity — their progress in wealth and social comforts, 
and in the capacity to derive the greatest amount of happiness 
in their enjoyment. This is generally admitted ; but another 
doctrine, which we consider of special importance to American 
Republicans, has not been so generally proclaimed, or so fre- 



228 SCHOOLS OF CINCINNATI. 

quently illustrated. This is, the importance of making educa- 
tion the earliest object of attention in the settlement of new 
territories — in providing seminaries of public instruction among 
the first institutions of the new cities, towns, and States, with 
which we are endowing our fertile prairies, and to establish 
which we are driving away the aboriginal possessors of our 
extensive national domain. We, as a people, are interested in 
this subject to an extent which has no example in history. The 
new Territories and States which we are adding to our Union with 
such, almost fearful, rapidity, are endowed immediately — with- 
out reference to anything but the amount of their population — 
with the power of influencing the political welfare of the whole 
country. They cannot, even if ignorant and untutored, be 
retained as colonies, subject to a mother country, and governed 
by such laws as she may enact, until the}^ become intelligent 
and capable of self government, but, on the contrary, they aid 
in making the laws by which she must be governed. The 
moral and intellectual character that may be impressed on 
these new States is, therefore, of paramount importance, not 
only to their own happiness, but to the prosperity of the whole 
Union, 

The glory which the young States of Wisconsin and Minne- 
sota will acquire by the early establishment of educational 
institutions, will be in strong constrast to the disgrace which 
Missouri has brought upon herself by not reckoning the founda- 
tion of such establishments as among the first duties of Amer- 
ican States, 

The truth of these doctrines, which is not controverted by 
argument but forgotten through thoughtlessness, cannot be too 
strongly urged, nor its influence on public prosperity and pri- 
vate happiness too frequently manifested by precept, and by 
proofs and illustrations. 

Our country has furnished numerous themes for investiga- 
tion, enquiry, and comment to the philanthropists, and to po- 
litical philosophers ; but the influence ;which is exerted by the 
establishment of seminaries of education among the first institu- 
tions of society in new settlem.ents, has not been among them, 
or, if ^dverted to, not with the attention due to its importance- 



CONCLUSION. 229 



If our population consisted of a single race of mankind, 
and a race born and bred under republican institutions, there 
would be less need of continually renewed discussions on the 
subject of youthful education. But, with such a constant influx 
of foreigners, with feelings and prejudices acquired under the 
influence of different forms of government, and different social 
systems and habits, the necessity of such systems of education 
as may make us as speedily as possible a homogeneous and 
united people, is greatly increased. It is specially increased by 
the fact, that among our immigrants are many reformers whose 
qualifications for the office they assume are heated fancies and 
disordered imaginations, with singular deficiency of sound 
judgment and correct observation. Of these we have more 
than enough of native growth. 

Such reformers often gather congregations of ignorant fanat- 
ics, who destroy private peace and happiness, and disturb public 
tranquility. They bring forward new doctrines in religion, in 
politics, and in morals, which, in their progress to the contempt 
and scorn- they deserve, are the cause of a great amount of 
gratuitous misery to individuals, and degradation to nations. 
The Fourierites, the Socialists of various denominations, the 
Spiritualists, the Mormons, and other fanatical setters forth of 
novelties and reforms, have, some of them, closed their career 
of folly or crime, and others are in progress toward the demor- 
alization of communities. The fortifications against these 
enemies, that disturb our peace, are our school houses. These 
are the defensive mounds that we now erect, and they will be 
more effective than those which mark the former occupation of 
our country by a race that did not possess them, and, therefore, 
were doomed to extermination, and their history to the deepest 
oblivion. 

The association for the extension of female prostitution, 
tinder the title of " Free Love," in the greatest of our cities — 
presided over by men who have obtained notoriety as reform- 
ers — is a fearful example of the dangers which beset us, and 
of the inffuences which are brought into operation to destroy 
the hope of our country's prosperity by the corruption of our 



230 SCHOOLS OF CINCINNATI. 

emales. But it must be opposed by perfecting our systems of 
female education, and making intelligence and mental culture 
so universal that such efforts to extend moral depravity into the 
sacred shrines " where we garner up our hearts," shall be re- 
pulsed with the scorn and disdain which they merit, and the 
purity of our mothers and daughters be in the future, as in the 
past of our history, the pride of our hearts, and the guarantee 
of our progress as a nation. 

The highest duty of man — his special mission on earth — is to 
acquire power by means of knowledge. The highest knowl- 
edge is the will of his Creator : the best exercise of power by 
man, is over his own passions, appetites, and desires ; not for 
the purpose of extinguishing any of them, but of directing them 
aright. For this, the gift of freedom is necessary, and has been 
bestowed — since the perfection of human character can only 
be achieved under it auspices ; and, the greater the degree 
of freedom that can be borne without abuse, the higher the 
character — whether national or individual ; for he that over- 
comes temptation is greater than he who runs away from it. 

A revelation of the will of his creator has been made to man; 
but it is a revelation which is calculated to call into exercise the 
best powers of mind and body, in order to make it contribute 
to his highest happiness. The revelations of Scripture demand 
deep study — profound investigation ; for although the duties they 
impose are intelligible to every capacity, yet the treasures of 
knowledge they contain — the prophecies, symbols, and mys- 
teries — are extensive and varied enough to task the highest 
powers of mind, and require and reward the best efibrts of 
persevering industry. 

The revelations of nature are similar — the most necessary 
being on the surface ; and yet there are others which are hidden 
treasures, in all her different kingdoms, and which it is the 
duty and the interest of mankind to search for with unremitting 
diligence and untiring industry. They are to be found in the 
bowels of the earth, among her rich minerals and historical 
fossils — they are in " the spacious firmament on high " — in the 
sun in his majesty — in the moon in her beauty — in the stars 



CONCLUSION. 231 



gilding the gloom of nighl with their boundless magnificence : 
they exist in mid-air, the birth-place of the dew and (the rain- 
bow, the home of the storm clouds and tempests — in the depths 
of " ocean's dark, unfathomed caves" — and most abundantly on 
earth's joyous surface, calling to the horticulturist to add to 
the beauties of nature the graces of art, and the decorations of 
tasteful culture ; and requiring the husbandman to call forth the 
" wealth of nations " by the aid of the plough ; that talisman 
more potent than those feigned by Eastern fabulists as mani- 
festations of the wisdom and power of Solomon. 

The hidden treasures of knowledge are not guarded by the 
evil beings, the fabled guardians of ill gotten treasures and 
piratical hoards : neither fear, nor covetuousness, nor inordinate 
pride, nor any of the demoniac spirits of evil guard the places 
where the true treasures of knowledge are buried, but beneficent 
spirits say to the enquiring disciple, " come and see the place 
where they are laid." 

Nature, when put to the question — not judicially but judi- 
ciously — will reveal her secrets, and cause each revelation to 
aid in bringing forth others. 

As in "every good and perfect gift which cometh from above," 
the diffusion increases the happiness of the giver and the re« 
ceiver, each effort for the discovery of truth instead of wearying, 
will lighten the labor of future efforts, and new reward await 
each new research : pleasures which do not cloy, but increase 
the appetite, are the fruits of knowledge. Its acquisition and 
its communication alike give increase of power — of individual 
power over the temptations which endanger our temporal 
welfare — of national power over the enemies of civil and re- 
ligious freedom — and of spiritual power over the great enemy 
of our future salvation. Innocent amusements judiciously 
used for supplanting vicious indulgence, promote these powers 
by giving health to the body and vigor to the mind. 

The means of doing good, by combined efforts for good ends, 
are obtained by the diffusion of knowledge, without which such 
efforts cannot be properly directed ; but it is not by great — by 
national — combinations alone, that such means can be obtained. 



232 SCHOOLS OF CINCINNATI. 

Lessons of national interest are not alone contained in great 
national events : small communities can give useful lessons 
to great States, and the city of Cincinnati can give lessons to 
the State of Ohio, which it will be for their mutual interest to 
give and receive. 

Our country has suffered many evils from the assumption in 
our theory of government, that mankind are more wise and 
enlightened than history can justify us in assuming ; and coun- 
tries under despotic governments have undergone still greater 
evils from the opposite theory, that men are more ignorant and 
degraded than their state of civilization would make manifest. 

Each of these assumptions has a tendency to verify its own 
doctrine ; but, in our case, it is requisite that this tendency be 
encouraged, by extending, continually , the benefits of education* 
and the constant adoption of new measures for the promotion 
and diffusion of knowledge. 



The Oxford Female College, although not in the immediate vicinity of Cincinnati, 
is eiititleJ to notice, being in the ailjoining county, and having a portion of its trustees 
in this City. 

This Institution was established in the early part of the present year, and has had as 
yet but one session. It has a faculty of nine teachers and a curriculum sufficiently 
extensive. 

Its location is at Oxford, Butler County, the site of the Miami University, and is 
healthy and pleasant. 



3477 



